


Pack of Our Own

by Lynx22281



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Benny, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Domestic, Fluff, Knotting, M/M, Male Lactation, Mpreg, Omega Dean, Other, Pregnant Castiel, Pregnant Dean, Pregnant Sex, Pregnant threesome, graphic birth, omega cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-18
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 21:12:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 24,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/931147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynx22281/pseuds/Lynx22281
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Benny didn't know if he was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world or the unluckiest. He had somehow landed himself two of the most beautiful, stubborn omegas in existence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Benny didn't know if he was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world or the unluckiest. He had somehow landed himself two of the most beautiful, stubborn omegas in existence. If it wasn't for the fact that Castiel gave the world's best back massage and Dean made the world's best burger, he was pretty sure neither of them would be worth the trouble. Then again, he was the dumbass who was so head-over-heels for both of them that they could be two little shits who didn't do anything but sit around all day, eating ice cream, and gossiping over telenovelas and he'd still give them everything and anything they wanted. 

Neither Castiel nor Dean were typical omegas. They were strong, well-endowed, and independent. Traditionally, mated omegas stayed home to take care of their families. But, Dean and Castiel had jobs outside the house that they enjoyed. Dean was a kindergarten teacher and Castiel was a nurse at the hospital. Their jobs were well-suited to an omega's natural tendency to nurture and provide care. Neither of them had wanted to give up their careers just because they were mated. Thanks to a more modern, forward-thinking society, more omegas were choosing to stay in the workplace after mating and having pups. Benny might have preferred to have his omegas stay at home, tucked away from other alphas, but there was no way he could say no to the two of them. 

The three of them had been friends since they were just pups romping around on the playground at school, before knots and heats were on anybody's mind. Benny got his first knot at fourteen, followed shortly by Castiel who went into his first heat a few months later. The young alpha quickly scented his omega and became even more possessive of his friend than usual. Dean, who was a year younger, was secretly afraid that he'd become an alpha and lose his friendship with Benny and Cas. It was hard for two alphas and an unmated omega to have any kind of platonic relationship. He cried during his first heat, half in frustration and half in relief that he could have what he secretly wanted all along, a mating bond with his two best friends. Castiel sat with Dean, comforting him the best he could, and Benny stayed outside on the Winchesters' front lawn scaring away any alpha who happened to wander too close (which got him scruffed when John came home from work and the older alpha didn’t take too kindly to some half-grown pup growling at him on his own property). 

Benny claimed his omegas when he was eighteen. Though it was uncommon for an alpha to claim more than one omega, it wasn't forbidden. Their pack had several non-traditional families: alpha-alpha pairs, beta-omega pairs, and another alpha-omega-omega family. Claiming Castiel was no issue since both of them were of age, but he had to get special permission from the pack alpha and Dean's family to claim the seventeen-year-old. He wouldn't claim Castiel without claiming Dean at the same time, but none of them wanted to wait until the younger boy turned eighteen. Thankfully, it hadn't taken much persuasion. The only concession was that they had to wait to have pups, which was fine since the three of them had planned to go to college. 

Benny knew how lucky he was to be mated to his best friends. 

The only bad thing about being mated to two omegas was when their heats synced, which for them happened more often than not. Generally an omega's heat triggered his or her alpha's rut, but in their case heat triggered not only the alpha's rut, but also heat in the other omega. Benny knew he was in trouble two months after he claimed his omegas and he came home from work to the almost overwhelming scent of Dean's and Castiel's combined heats. He found the two omegas sprawled out on their massive bed, fucking each other with knotted dildos. The trio then had a three-day long sex marathon that required a three-day recovery period afterwards. Fortunately for Benny, Dean and Cas were both on a two-month cycle. If his omegas had a monthly cycle, he was pretty sure his dick would have fallen off within the first year of their mating. 

Benny pulled his beat-up blue F-150 into their driveway, behind Castiel's silver Prius. The Impala was too long to park behind unless Benny wanted the bumper of his truck sticking out into the street. For the last few days, he'd been mentally preparing himself to come home to the alluringly sweet scent of his omegas in heat, but tonight, just as every other night this week, it was the scent of dinner that welcomed him into the house. 

He hung his keys on the peg board by the front door. The living room was empty, TV off. Through the doorway he could see that the table was set with plates, silverware, and linen napkins. A glass vase of fresh cut flowers from the garden in the backyard sat in the middle of the table. It was painfully domestic for three guys in their mid-twenties. They usually just ate in the living room with plates propped up against their chests while they watched the evening news. Benny furrowed a brow as he kicked off his shoes by the door and called out, "Hey, sweethearts, I'm home." 

Dean poked his head around the corner and smiled. "Dinner's almost ready. You want a beer or something else to drink?" 

"Beer's fine," he replied with a grin as he padded over to his youngest omega. He slipped his arms around Dean's waist pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. Dean led him over to the kitchen table. "What's the special occasion?" 

Dean gave him an wry grin, not answering as he slipped out of his arms to go help Castiel finish plating dinner. Benny watched them, their heads together and backs to him as they stood over the stove. They were up to something. He leaned back in his chair and just smiled as they turned. Castiel set one of the two plates in his hands in front of Benny, giving him a quick peck to his temple before sitting to his left. Dean lagged behind to grab a bottle of beer from the fridge for the alpha before bringing his plate to the table and sitting to Benny's right. The two omegas quietly tucked into their food, occasionally glancing to Benny and each other. They were keeping something from him. He could scent their anxiety, but it was excited nervousness, not panic, so he didn't worry. 

But then, something different caught his nose, something he thought he'd smelled before over the last few weeks, but hadn't been quite strong enough to get a good whiff of. He blinked, setting his fork down and took a deeper inhale. The two omegas looked up at him expectantly, both of them forgetting their mostly uneaten dinners. Benny sorted through the familiar scents. He picked out Castiel's scent of brown sugar, lavender, old books, and damp earth and Dean's scent of apple pie, cinnamon, leather, and cardamom. Underneath, he smelled something brand new, something he couldn't put a name to. 

Castiel pulled a white box from somewhere, Benny couldn't tell where, and handed it over to the alpha. Benny opened the box and looked down at a positive pregnancy test. A big smile curved his lips as he looked to the omega. So that was what the new smell was. "We're gonna have a pup?" 

Before Castiel could answer, Dean sheepishly pulled out an identical white box and handed it to Benny. The alpha raised a brow as he opened the box, uncovering another positive pregnancy test. His smile faltered slightly. He set the two boxes next to his plate and pushed away from the table, walking towards the living room before he turned around to look at the two omegas sharing a worried look over the kitchen table. He motioned for both of them to come to him. The unease didn't leave their faces until they both stood in front of him and he went down on his knees. Benny placed one hand on Dean's hip and the other on Castiel's, bringing them close together so he could nuzzle his face against their flat bellies. "Ya'll are both gonna make me a daddy?" 

The relief was immediate. Castiel and Dean looped an arm back around each other and let their free hands fall to Benny's head while he lifted up their shirts to press dozens of kisses to their bare stomachs. He had gotten both of his omegas pregnant at the same time. The alpha inside him wanted to howl out the announcement to the rest of the pack, show everybody how virile an alpha he was, but he reined in the instinct and stood up pulling his grinning omegas close. They curled into his side, heads resting against his shoulders. He squeezed them tight, kissing each in turn. "God, I love you both so much." 

Green and blue eyes shined brightly up at him as Dean and Castiel intoned together, "We love you too, alpha."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needed a break from Sanctifying Grace -- kinda got stuck on where to go next. So I decided to play around with these guys again. :)

Dean glared down at the traitorous open zipper on his khakis. Rolling his eyes, he flopped down on the bed, praying that Cas or Benny wouldn’t walk in on him looking like a girl trying to get into a tight pair of jeans before a big date. With some tugging and a lot of cursing, he managed to get the zipper up and the button buttoned, but he was out of breath and completely uncomfortable by the time his pants were closed. Carefully he pushed himself up to sit hoping that the thread securing the button would hold.

“Son of a bitch!” He forgot to tuck his shirt in. 

Dean fell back on the bed in defeat rubbing his palms roughly over his face. With a frustrated exhale, he shoved the pants down and flung them at the pile of pants next to the closet door that he’d already tried on before burrowing under the comforter on the bed, not caring that his dress shirt was going to get wrinkled. _Pity Party – table for one._

Only 12 weeks pregnant and already his damn pants were too tight. This was the cherry on an already shitty sundae. His hormones were running amok. Yesterday, he cried harder than Kevin Tran did when the kid skinned his knees during recess, and all Cas had to do was start humming _Arms of the Angel_ and he turned into a snotty mess, bawling about the poor abused dogs and cats in shelters with nobody to love them and why won’t anybody love them?! 

He was tired all day long. If he wasn’t actively doing something, then he was passed out, asleep, didn’t matter where. He’d fallen asleep at his desk during nap time five times over the last two weeks, and every time he rode somewhere with Cas or Benny driving, he ended up slumped against the passenger door and drooling on his shoulder before they’d even gone two miles. 

His body was all out of whack. He was peeing almost every hour (thank God his classroom had its own bathroom) and he hadn’t pooped in a week. Not to mention the almost constant pup sickness. The only things he could safely eat without knowing he’d be kneeling in front of the toilet for half an hour afterwards were saltines, applesauce, graham crackers, and the vanilla protein shakes Cas brought him from the geriatric unit at the hospital. He cursed the biological imperative that told him getting knocked up was a great thing – _getting_ knocked up was fun (he wasn’t about to deny that), _being_ knocked up was the worst thing ever.

“Dean?” came Castiel’s voice from the doorway. “It’s almost time to go. Are you ok?”

“No,” he replied miserably. The other omega would easily smell that he was fine, just aggravated. 

The mattress dipped as Castiel crawled up next to him, trying to puzzle out the best way to rouse Dean out from under the covers. Dean pulled the blankets closer around him, making his comfortable fortress momentarily impenetrable.

“Is the nausea back?” Cas finally gained access to the top of Dean’s head and he threaded his fingers through his hair, rubbing his fingertips soothingly over his scalp. 

“No.” Dean immediately relaxed at the massage. _Damn Cas’s magic fingers!_

“Then what’s wrong?” 

“Stupid pants don’t fit.” Dean arched his neck pushing his head up into the other man’s hand.

“Ooh,” Cas said unable to hide the amusement in his voice.

Growling, Dean batted Castiel’s fingers away before flicking the covers up over his head again. “S’not funny, asshole.”

“They were going to stop fitting sooner or later. It just happened sooner rather than later.” Chucking, he left the bed, but Dean knew better than to think Cas was leaving him alone to wallow in his misery. A few seconds later something landed on his head. “Wear those.”

Dean pushed back the blankets to find a pair of Castiel’s scrub pants draped across the pillows. “I can’t tuck my shirt in with these.”

“Then wear a shirt you don’t have to tuck in. Kindergarteners don’t much fashion sense anyway.” Castiel drew back the rest of the covers and grabbed Dean by the hands, pulling him out of bed. 

Dean gave a put-upon sigh, but unbuttoned his shirt and trudged off towards the closet to find something else to wear with the olive green scrubs. At least they weren’t the purple ones. Castiel could rock wild-colored scrubs, but Dean couldn’t, even though his students would probably go wild to see him in neon green pants. He settled on a gray Henley shirt. It felt weird to be so casually dressed in the middle of the week, like he was about to go to work in his pajamas. When he was finally dressed, he held his arms out to his sides. “Look ok?”

Castiel tilted his head to the side and squinted. “You’ll do.”

With a sheepish smile, Dean punched him gently in the shoulder as he headed out of the bedroom. At least he was going to make it to work at his usual time. So far, he hadn’t been late, still managing to be at work before the first bell rang, but he always liked to have an hour or so before the kids started trickling into the room to make sure everything was ready for the day. This morning, he woke up blessedly nausea free for the first time in a month. He knocked his fist on the wooden doorframe hoping that pup sickness would stay away all day.

Benny was by the front door with his hat tucked under his elbow, frowning down at his cell phone. When Dean rounded the corner, the look of concern faded away from the alpha’s face and he smiled. “Was wonderin’ if I should be jealous of the toilet, what with all the time you’ve spent huggin’ it lately.”

“It’s all your fault.” Rolling his eyes, Dean leaned in for a kiss. “Not sick this morning.”

“Color me surprised. What took you so long to get ready then?” 

“He’s getting fat,” Castiel teased, but slid an arm around Dean’s waist to soften the blow.

“I’m not…well…” Dean huffed petulantly, figuring it wasn’t worth trying to deny the painfully obvious.

Benny eyed him critically for a moment before grinning. “Are those Cas’s pants?”

“Yes. Can we go, before we’re late?” Dean grabbed his bag and stomped out of the house, ignoring the overly doting, amused look that Benny and Cas were sharing at his expense. He sulked in the Impala, fiddling with the radio while he waited for his alpha and omega to part ways at the side walk. Thankfully, Castiel didn’t bitch about taking the gas guzzler to work or Dean’s choice of blaring AC/DC so early in the morning when he slid into the passenger’s seat.

Dean dropped Cas off at the hospital, leaning over to give the other omega a peck on the cheek before watching him walk into the building for his 12-hour shift with the large travel mug of coffee clutched tightly in his hand. Dean didn’t envy him his long shifts at the hospital, even if it meant longer weekends. At least teaching meant he got extra-long vacations over the summer and winter holidays. With thoughts of the upcoming Thanksgiving break swirling in his head, Dean parked the Impala in the teacher’s lot at the elementary school and headed inside to get ready for a full day with 18 five-year-olds.

***

At quarter to four in the afternoon, half an hour after the dismissal bell, a familiar face appeared in the door of Dean’s classroom as he and his aide Casey finished straightening the activity centers.

“Hey, Mom!” Dean said with a big grin as he weaved his way between tiny desks to get to the front of the room. “What are you doing here?”

“Hey, baby.” Mary caught him up in a hug, squeezing tightly. “I subbed for Mrs. Ferris upstairs in fourth grade today.”

“Hello, Mrs. Winchester!” Casey waved from the sink where she was washing tempera paint out of paintbrushes.

“Hi, Casey,” she said, smiling. “Did you guys have a good day?”

“Yeah. Hey, Dean, if you want to go, I can finish up. We’re almost done anyway.” Casey smiled. She had been a lifesaver over the last month, happy to come in early whenever Dean was running late because he couldn’t pry himself away from the commode. So far, only she and his principal were aware of his pregnancy. He wanted to wait a little while longer before making the announcement to the rest of his co-workers. 

It was easier to keep the secret from other people in the greater pack, but it was nearly impossible to keep the secret from the family pack. Familial kin had extraordinarily sensitive noses when it came to the scent of other family members. Mary had scented the new pups only a week after Benny came home to two positive pregnancy tests, and it wasn’t long before word spread along the family grapevine, but they were all diligently keeping the news close to home for the next few weeks.

“Thanks, Case.” Dean walked over to his desk to get his workbag. “Would you check around the room to see if you can find Jesse’s folder? He didn’t turn it in at the end of the day.”

“He probably hid it in one of the cupboards again.” Casey chuckled and waved. “Have a good night!”

“You too,” he replied with a return wave and ushered his mom out of the classroom. They walked through the empty hallways and out to the parking lot where the air was starting to turn brisk. Dean turned to his mom as she kept pace with him. “Need a ride home?”

“I was thinking about stopping by the mall first.”

Dean groaned. “Cas called you. Didn’t he?”

Mary smiled, nodding. “Said you had a wardrobe malfunction this morning.”

With a sigh, he patted his slightly pudgy middle and pouted. “Yeah. None of my pants fit anymore.”

They slid into the Impala together and within minutes were out on the main thoroughfare heading towards the sprawling outdoor shopping center in Lawrence. 

“Guess I should have warned you. I was so bloated when I was pregnant with you that by my third month I’d gone up two pants sizes. I finally quit wearing pants altogether.”

“I’m not gonna start wearing dresses. Just wish sweatpants were on the dress code for school. Nice comfy, stretchy sweat pants.”

Mary chuckled and turned up the radio as Freddie Mercury started crooning _Is this the real life?_ so they could sing along at the top of their lungs. With perfect timing, the epic song ended as Dean pulled the massive Chevy into a parking spot at the mall. They spent the next couple of hours in the men’s clothing section at the omega shop picking out and trying on slacks, jeans, and shirts to last through at least the first few months of Dean’s pregnancy. 

When they were finished checking out, Mary dragged Dean down the sidewalk to Baby Gap. 

“Oh, c’mon, Mom!” he whined. “My kid’s not gonna be a little douche.”

“But, they’re so cute!” She gestured to the tiny mannequins decked out in khakis and white polo shirts in the window displays.

“Yeah, and we can get those same exact clothes for half the price at Target.”

She laughed softly. “At least satisfy my grandma craving by taking me to Babies R Us.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “I thought we were shopping for me.”

“Please.” She turned big hazel-green eyes up at him. And, that was where Sammy got it from.

“Fine, but I have to pick Cas up at 7.” 

Mary lit up so happily that Dean couldn’t help but smile at her. They tossed the shopping bags in the Impala’s trunk and headed across the street to the baby stuff megastore. 

As soon as the double-doors automatically slid open, Dean was completely overwhelmed. Yeah, ok he still had the pregnancy test stuffed in a drawer back home with its little blue plus-sign indicating the positive results and he’d been sick as a dog for the past month and he’d just come from buying paternity pants at the omega store, but strangely enough, stepping into Babies R Us was what really drove home the point that _oh-shit-I’m-pregnant_. 

“Dean, are you ok?” Mary asked, concerned.

“I’m…I’m…” He stumbled over to a wooden bench near the check-out stands, sitting down hard. This was his life now. He was having a baby. Cas was having a baby. There were going to be babies in their house, ruling their lives for the rest of forever. There were going to be sleepless nights, poopy diapers, earaches, scraped knees, birthday parties, slumber parties, first days of school, first boyfriends, first girlfriends, graduations, weddings, more babies. It was too much. 

He couldn’t remember how to change a diaper; the last one he changed had been Sammy’s twenty years ago and he was pretty sure his mom did all the work and he just got the credit because he was such a good helper. What if the baby started crying and wouldn’t stop? What if the baby didn’t like him? What if he didn’t like the baby? He wasn’t old enough to have a baby, was he? Wasn’t he just in high school getting the talk that having pups too young would ruin his life? 

Oh god, his and Benny’s flour baby had been a disaster in Home Economics. How had Cas not been there to do the stupid project with them? Oh right, he had actually signed up for electives on time that year and got into Ceramics and Health Sciences before the classes had filled up, unlike Dean and Benny who waited until the day before the school year started to finalize their schedules. By then only Home Economics and Chorus were still open. Their poor abused sack of flour. At the end of the month, the 5-pound bag of flour weighed only 3 pounds with a good bit of that being from the duct tape holding it together; they finally had to seal it up in a big Ziploc bag to keep from getting flour all over the place. They were going to be horrible parents! 

Dean barely registered that Mary had wrapped her arms around him, pulling his face into her neck so he could breathe in her calming scent – sugar cookies, lavender, and oranges. She murmured things into his ear that he couldn’t quite understand over the rushing of his panicked thoughts. Mary stroked his arm gently. Several minutes passed before Dean could take a deep breath without it causing a painful hitch.

"Are you back with me?" Mary asked softly as she kissed his temple.

Dean nodded, slowly becoming aware of the store and the other shoppers who were thankfully paying them no attention whatsoever.

She smiled. “Ok. Let’s forget Babies R Us for now and go pick up Cas. I’ll make you boys some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Sound good?”

His stomach growled eagerly for once instead of churning at the mere mention of something other than a dry, bland cracker. “Yeah that sounds good,” he replied quietly.

The little bit of extra energy that had sustained him all day was now completely gone. Dean leaned against his mom as they made their way back to the car. He didn’t even argue when she fished the keys out of his pocket and opened the passenger side door for him. The ride to the hospital was quiet, only the soft murmur of the radio breaking up the noise of the road beneath the tires.

Even though he knew Mary was planning to take Dean shopping, Castiel was still surprised to see her behind the wheel when the Impala pulled up to the curb in front of the hospital. Dean was slouched down with his head resting back against the top of the seat and his eyes closed. Castiel climbed into the back, leaning over the front seat to kiss his mother-in-law’s cheek. 

“Hey, my other baby,” she said affectionately, smiling over her shoulder to him as he fumbled with his seatbelt. 

“Is he ok?” Castiel furrowed a brow in concern as his nose caught the faint scent of anxiety in the air. 

“Had a little freak-out in Babies R Us.”

“About what?”

“Not sure. He didn’t tell me.” Mary steered the car out of the hospital lot and headed towards the Lafitte house.

“I’m right here,” Dean complained without opening his eyes. He felt a warm palm gently brush along his forehead and let the touch soothe his still frayed nerves. He had no idea how Castiel seemed to be so unaffected by his own pregnancy. The other omega hadn’t had a single second of pup sickness and still had the boundless energy that got him through his long days at work. He didn’t cry at the drop of a hat or run to the bathroom every ten minutes. Dean would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little jealous, but Castiel was so good to him, so caring and tender (even if he was a snarky asshole sometimes), that he could never get mad at him for winning the early pregnancy lottery.

When they got home, Castiel ushered Dean to the bedroom while Mary headed to the kitchen. Benny and John were already home from work, sprawled out in the living room watching pre-game coverage for the Chiefs game against the Eagles. When younger alpha made a move to get up, Mary patted his shoulder gently. “Give them a few minutes.”

Castiel stripped Dean of the clothes he had been wearing all day and handed him his favorite Led Zepplin t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, both super soft with age. After he changed out of his scrubs, he built up a nest on the big bed and pulled Dean close, wrapping his arms tightly around his mate. “What made you break down in the middle of Babies R Us?”

“Nothing.” Dean nudged his face into Castiel’s neck, blocking out the rest of the world.

“Dean Winchester doesn’t go to pieces for no reason.”

He huffed softly. “Stupid baby shit, man. Fucked up hormones. Not that you’d understand.”

“Ah.” The sound was a little wounded at Dean’s tone.

“How are you so calm about all of this?” Dean reluctantly leaned back so he could look at Castiel. “I’ve been freaking out since we both peed on those sticks.”

“Who’s to say I’m not worried too?” Castiel sighed and gently tucked Dean’s head back down against his shoulder, resting his cheek against the other man’s forehead. He laced their fingers together and confessed. “I’m terrified. I didn’t expect us to get pregnant at the same time. I always wanted it to happen to you first, so I could see what it was like beforehand, see how you handled it.”

“Oh, I’m handling it just great,” Dean scoffed.

Castiel squeezed him gently. “I think you’re handling it as well as anybody else. I make it out the door every morning only because of you. I figure if you can make it to work every morning no matter how many times you throw up, then I have no excuse to call in sick.”

Dean turned his head and snorted his irritation into Castiel’s armpit. His voice was muffled when he spoke again. “I’m so tired of feeling out of whack.”

The dark-haired omega massaged the base of Dean’s neck making him go limp and pliant against him. “I know, but it should get better soon.”

“God, I hope so.” Dean fiddled with Castiel’s shirt tail and pants until he could press his palm against the other man’s flat belly. If it wasn’t for the fact that he could smell the pup, he’d wonder if Castiel was even pregnant.

There was a hesitant knock before Benny poked his head around the crack in the door. “Ya’ll ok?”

The two omegas reached out for him and he took the invitation to crawl into bed next to Dean. They didn’t speak, just soaked in each other’s presence, letting the familiar touch and smell of home ease away the day’s stress. Dean knew he’d be fine; his mates would make sure of it. He’d get on board with the whole baby thing, but it didn’t have to be today. They still had months to plan and prepare. For right now, he could just enjoy a night of food and football. Of course, they’d have to rouse themselves out of their warm nest first.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I was the violinist for a seven-night run of Les Miserable put on by one of the local community theater companies and ended up with a terrible, horrible allergy-cold-sinus-thing in the middle of it. Then there was lots of good DCBB stuff to read and I just couldn't be bothered to write my own stuff. :) 
> 
> Thanks for reading and kudo'ing and commenting!
> 
> Updated 12/13/13 - Added pictures at the bottom!!!!

Christmas was by far Mary’s favorite holiday. She loved the cold weather, the never-ending buffet of food, the festive decorations, the cheesy TV specials, the brightly wrapped presents. But above all, she loved the smell. Christmas always smelled like family. Her boys all had faint Christmas-y notes to their scents. John’s and Benny’s scents had strong alpha undertones of pine and balsam, Dean’s had a hint of warm cinnamon, Castiel’s had traces of brown sugar, and Sam’s was almost all earthy cloves. Holiday decorations and cooking only intensified the comforting scents of home and kin.

She sat on the couch, comfortably curled into John’s side with her hands wrapped around a steaming mug of cocoa watching as her living room was turned into a minefield of discarded paper and bows, empty boxes, and shiny new things. There wasn’t as much destruction as when the boys were younger and the piles of toys, books, games, and clothes sometimes grew to absurd heights, but there would probably still be at least three bags worth of trash to haul out to the curb later in the afternoon.

Mary realized she might have gone a little overboard with buying baby stuff when her eyes fell to the small mountain of diapers, wipes, onesies, burp cloths, bottles, blankets, pacifiers, and stuffed toys carefully stacked between where Castiel and Dean sat on the floor by the Christmas tree. She hadn’t made it home from a single shopping trip (even if was just to the grocery store) over the last few months without some cute, tiny something to put away for the pups. But, she rationalized that just because the pups weren’t due until late spring and they didn’t even know genders yet, it didn’t mean she couldn’t get started building the stockpile of things needed after her grandchildren were born.

The ripping and tearing had stopped for the most part with everybody taking time to delight in their individual hoards of Christmas loot. Mary’s grown up boys weren’t without their own piles of presents either. Castiel was already a dozen pages into his newest book and Benny was fiddling with the settings on his new iPod while Sam and Dean argued over which of their new Blu-Rays to watch first after lunch. Setting her mug down on the coffee table, Mary pushed herself up from the couch to go grab trash bags and start the cleanup process.

“Wait, Ma,” Dean said from his seat in front of the warm wood stove when he noticed his mother start to move. He pulled two similarly sized boxes out from their hiding spots at the back of the tree. “We’ve got two more presents for you. Well…for you and Dad actually.”

“Lucky us,” she said with a bright smile as she sat back down on the couch and the gifts were passed over to her.

"Open Cas's first.” Dean pointed to the box covered in red and white reindeer patterned paper.

John sat up from his sprawl, leaning over to get a better look as his wife carefully peeled back the paper covering the first box. Inside, nestled amongst sheets of green tissue paper, was a pink picture frame with a pair of white ballet shoes painted in the corner. The frame held a grainy black and white sonogram image. Mary’s hand flew up to her mouth as she looked over to Castiel. With hazel eyes already watering, she smiled. “Oh, Cas. It’s a girl?”

Beaming, Castiel nodded as he patted the growing swell of his belly. “We found out last week.”

“So that means, this is…,” she drifted off as she quickly dug into the second box, tearing through the snowman wrapping paper and lifting away white sparkly tissue paper. The frame inside was blue with baseballs, soccer balls, basketballs, and footballs painted around the edges. She looked over to Dean, her face soft and happy. “A boy.”

“Yeah.” He nodded with a smile, his cheeks blushing lightly under his freckles. “Uh…lift it up.”

Mary furrowed a brow as she lifted the frame out of the box and found an identical one underneath. She looked between the two frames and it took her a moment to realize that one sonogram picture was labeled Pup A and the other was marked Pup B. Her voice broke on a happy sob as she exclaimed, “Twins!”

The living room dissolved into tears and laughter as Mary and Sam both clambered through the sea of presents to give hugs to Dean and Castiel. John good naturedly groused about his wallet already being light enough after Mary’s shopping sprees in every baby department in town, but the look of joy and pride over his three soon-to-be grandchildren never left his face. Benny just watched with a smug alpha smile, basking in the praise and excitement over his growing family.

“Guess this means you guys need a bigger house,” Sam said as he watched his mother coo over his brother’s stomach.

“Speaking of…” Benny pushed himself up off the floor, smoothing his hands down his chest to brush sugar cookie crumbs from his shirt. “I got one more present for my boys.”

Benny offered his hands down to Castiel and Dean, helping them up from the floor. At four months pregnant, they were both still relatively agile despite their rounding middles. Dean was already slightly bigger than his equally pregnant omega-mate, but everybody had been attributing that to the long held suspicion that there was direwolf blood somewhere in the Winchester line and his pup was just going to be bigger than normal. Dean still wasn’t sure which would be better (worse?): giving birth to one big baby or two smaller ones at the same time.

As they paused at the front door to put on their shoes, Castiel asked, “Do we need coats?”

“Nah. We won’t be outside long,” the alpha replied with a soft smile as he gently tugged his mates out of the warm house. Several inches of snow had fallen a few days ago, but the weather warmed up to a balmy 46 degrees over Christmas Eve and patches of brown grass now poked up through the dull, melting snow. The sidewalk and driveway were damp from the run-off, but ice free.

Benny led Dean and Castiel down the driveway before turning left to follow the sidewalk. They didn’t go much more than 50 feet before stopping beside the next mailbox down from the Winchesters’ and Benny turned to face the two-story, craftsman style house next door to his in-laws’. The wooden siding was painted deep green with cream colored trim and rusty red under the eaves. There was a big two-car garage, a decent sized front porch, and a large picture window to the right of the front door, which was decorated with a big red bow.

He pulled something out of his pocket, holding it out in front of him. A key on a length of red and green plaid ribbon dangled from between his index finger and thumb. “It’s ours.”

The two omegas stared at the house, dumbstruck. They knew they’d eventually need to look for a bigger house, especially now that they had three babies on the way instead of just two. Castiel had been looking forward to the hunt for a new house, spending most of his free time trolling local realty sites on the internet. Dean had been hesitant about all of the hassle involved with finding a house, negotiating a price, signing paperwork, packing, and moving all while dealing with a still uncomfortable pregnancy. Things had gotten slightly better when his second trimester started, but he was still tired, hormonal, and nauseated half the time.

Dean blinked back tears and asked with a shaky voice, “What happened to Mrs. Humphries?”

Ginny Humphries had lived next door to the Winchesters for as long as Dean could remember. Her children were in college by the time he got to middle school and had long since gone off to their own homes, but were over often to visit with their own children. Ever since her husband died ten years ago, she had lived in the big house alone.

“It was actually her idea. She was ready to move closer to her grandkids, but had been waitin’ for the right time to sell her house. When Mary told her we were expectin’, she called me right up and made the offer,” Benny said wrapping one arm around Dean’s waist and threading the fingers other hand with Castiel’s. “Said she couldn’t have picked a better family for her house, and I told her we’d take real good care of it.”

“Let’s see inside,” Castiel said with a smile, tugging on Benny’s hand.

Together, they headed up the three steps to the porch. Ms. Humphries’ collection of flower pots and knickknacks was gone, but the swing remained. Benny slid the key into the lock, turning the handle and opening the door. Warmth beckoned them inside.

The front door opened into a foyer bracketed by stairs leading upstairs to the left and an office to the right. The office’s large picture window looked out onto the porch and front yard. There was a half-bath with a big storage closet and laundry room down the hall from the office. The hallway led straight back to the sun-soaked, open great room and kitchen. The walls were a soft creamy white and the floors were warm, golden brown hardwood that matched the trim and kitchen cabinets. French doors opened up to the deck and fenced in backyard where bare trees and empty flowerbeds waited patiently for spring to come again. A shed, matching the colors of the house, sat in the far corner of the yard.

Dean and Castiel peeked in empty cabinets and storage spaces for a while before Benny ushered them back to the front of the house. “C’mon. Let’s go upstairs.”

The carpeted stairs were quiet as the three grown men trekked up to the house’s second floor. The hallway walls were painted the same smooth eggshell white as the walls downstairs and the floors were covered in thick, light colored carpet. To the right of the stairs was a bright corner bedroom painted butter yellow with a big closet. The large master bedroom with its en-suite bathroom was across from the stairs. The room was more than big enough to accommodate their massive king sized bed with plenty of space leftover on either side for nightstands; the bed was currently crammed up against the wall at home to make room for a very small table on one side for a lamp and alarm clock. The master bathroom had a double sink, separate walk-in shower and garden tub, and a small water closet for the toilet.

They left the master suite to peek into the other full bath before pushing open the door to the third bedroom. Castiel and Dean gasped softly as the door opened to reveal a furnished nursery.

Benny grinned as they walked into the room. “Mrs. Humphries left you two a surprise.”

The walls were light mint green with white crown molding and window casings. A dark wood crib with delicately turned spindles stood in the middle of the long wall to the right. A hip-high, six-drawer dresser-turned-changing-table sat beneath the double window at the wall opposite the door. A tall wooden armoire with three drawers beneath its double doors stood in the corner to the right of the window. Shelves were built into the wall across from the crib. Sitting in front of the built-in bookcases was an antique rocking chair with a footstool. There was a large closet behind the opened door.

“She said her babies were done having babies and none of her grandkids wanted to hang onto the old stuff for their kids. So she offered all of her nursery furniture to us for free just so she didn’t have to move it to her new place.” Benny watched his mates wander around the room in silent awe. They hadn’t said too much since they walked into the house. He worried that they wouldn’t like having the decision over their new house taken out of their hands, but the offer was one he knew he had to jump on and he so very much wanted to surprise them.

After a few minutes of watching his omegas wander around the room, reverently touching the furniture entrusted to their care, Benny cleared his throat. “So, what do ya’ll think?”

Dean walked over to the rocker and sank down with a relieved groan as Castiel crossed the room to where Benny leaned against the door frame and wrapped his arms around the alpha. The dark haired omega smiled. “I like it.”

“Dean?” Benny asked, squeezing his arms tightly around Castiel.

The youngest of the three mates rested his head against the back of the chair with his eyes closed, hands rubbing rhythmically over his belly as he pushed his foot against the floor. A very content smile tugged at his lips. “My only real criterion for the new house was to be close to Mom and Dad. Can’t get much closer than next door.”

“So, this is home?” Benny walked over to the rocking chair with Castiel tucked into his side.

“This is home,” Castiel said with a little nod as he reached out to thread his fingers through Dean’s hair.

“This is home,” Dean echoed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been in a fluffy mood lately. :)

"Hey, Mr. Winchester!  Did you eat the whole turkey?"

 

Dean looked up from his conversation with Charlie in the doorway of her classroom at the sound of Kevin Tran yelling down the hall.  The kid could barely move for all the layers of coat, hat, scarf, gloves, and who knows how many shirts his mom had bundled him up in before he left the house this morning.  He looked like a mini, multi-colored Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

 

The red-haired teacher laughed.  "It does look like you swallowed a basketball there, Dean-o."

 

"Ha. Ha."  He rolled his eyes, but gave Kevin a smile as the kindergartener waddled into the warm classroom.  Dean's eyes dropped down to his protruding belly and he gave it a gentle pat.  "Well, boys, let's go introduce you to the munchkins."

 

"Good luck with the gazillion questions they're gonna ask.  See you at lunch," Charlie said as she herded a half-dozen of her kids out of the hallway and into their classroom, shutting the door behind them.

 

It had been nearly a month since school let out for the winter holiday.  In that time, the twins had had a definite growth spurt and he was no longer able to hide his pregnancy under bulky sweaters.  He hadn't told his class about the pups yet, deciding to give them a surprise when they got back from the break.

 

"Ok, everybody on the rug," he called to the class as he closed the door.

 

Eighteen little bodies scrambled up to the front of the classroom were a large oval rag rug was spread out over the floor in front of the whiteboard.

 

"Mr. Winchester!  Where's the bean bag chair?!" Ava Wilson asked with distress over the fact that Dean's usual seat by the rug had been replaced by a glider rocker. 

 

"The bean bag has moved over to the Quiet Corner so you guys can sit in it during activity time."  He pointed a finger at the group and warned, "There will be no fighting over who gets to sit in the bean bag."

 

He slowly lowered himself down into the rocking chair.  His stomach wasn’t so large that it made moving awkward yet, but he couldn’t just flop down without a care anymore.  The pups tended to get all riled when he sat down too hard and jostled them awake.  They were asleep at the moment and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.  Being able to feel them move around was still a new sensation and distracted him more often than not.  He had to keep control of a classroom full of excited post-holiday kindergarteners and couldn’t afford to get lost in the fluttery feelings of his twins swimming around in his belly.

 

Lilith Tomlinson primly raised her hand.

 

“Yes, Lilith?”

 

She pursed her rose colored lips together and asked sweetly, “Are you pregnant?”

 

Well, so much for easing them into the situation, he thought.  Dean laced his fingers together over the top of his stomach.  “Yes, Lilith.  My mates and I are going to have pups this spring.  I’m going to have two little boys and Mr. Cas is going to have a little girl.  How many pups will that be?”

 

A dozen hands shot up all at once.  He grinned with pride.  His students absolutely loved math and were super quick with sums under ten.  He pointed to the middle of the group.  “Cassie?”

 

“Three pups!” the curly haired little girl called out.

 

“Correct,” he said with a smile.  “We’re going to have three brand new pups in our house in a few months.”

 

“We have a new pup at home.  He was born on December 18th,” Jake Taley piped up without raising his hand.  “His name’s Will and he poops a lot.”

 

“My daddy’s gonna have a pup next month.  He’s so big!”  Sarah Blake jumped up from the rug and stuck out her little tummy as far as it would go, motioning with her hands that her dad’s baby bump was much bigger.

 

Dean couldn’t help but laugh.  This was part of the reason why he decided to work with the younger kids instead of the older ones.  They usually had absolutely no filter between their brains and their mouths.  Sometimes it could be a detriment that ended in him having to calm down tears when one kid was inadvertently mean to another, but most of the time it was just hilarious.

 

He quizzed the class on how many of them were big brothers or big sisters, how many were in the middle, how many were the littlest ones in their family packs.  They talked about the things new pups needed after they were born and what things might change in a house when a pup arrived.  He steered clear of the questions about the mechanics of how a pup got into a mommy’s or daddy’s stomach.  He was sure his response of “You should talk to your parents about that” would result in his inbox being inundated with emails from concerned moms and dads; maybe a preemptive email to his class’s parents  over lunch would give them a head’s up as to why their 6-year-old was coming home with questions about the birds and bees.

 

“Alright, that’s enough questions about pups for now.  We’re going to get the day started with a book and then everybody’ll take their seats so we can learn about plants.”  Dean grabbed a book from the box on the floor next to his rocking chair.  He held it up for the class to see as he read the title on the cover.  “The New Pup.”

 

Thankfully his mom had been substituting in the library that morning and knew exactly what he needed as soon as he walked in the door.  She had handed him all of the books about new pups and becoming a big brother/big sister suitable for kindergarteners that the school’s library had on its shelves.  He added most of them to the Quiet Corner’s book shelf for the kids to read on their own, but took a couple to add to his stack of stories to read out loud to the class.   

 

Fifteen minutes later, everybody was tucked into their desks and watching raptly as he began to draw a plant seed on the board.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look! I updated a WIP! :)

"Nurse Lafitte, is there a reason why you've been sitting out at the nurses station for the last three hours?" 

 

Castiel groaned internally as Zachariah Adler slapped a folder down on the counter.  The paunchy, balding, middle aged doctor was the Chief of Medicine and was the most old-fashioned, self-important beta to ever walk the halls of the Lawrence Memorial.  He hated how the man insisted on calling him by his alpha's last name, even though his name was clearly spelled out on his name tag as _Castiel Novak, RN, BSN_.  The law requiring an omega to take the surname of his or her alpha had been repealed well before Castiel was even born. 

 

But, it was common knowledge that Dr. Adler wasn't a fan of omegas in the workplace, even though omegas made the best nurses and caregivers.  He was particularly against mated omegas working.  _A mated omega's place is in the home!_ he'd been heard to declare on more than one occasion.  (Don’t even get him started on a rant about pregnant omegas.)  Thankfully, the world at large was more progressive than it had been during Adler’s youth and he knew better than to openly discriminate against somebody because of their designation.  Of course, that didn’t mean he kept his prejudices to himself at all times; he was just more creative in how he expressed them.

 

"I've been charting for the other nurses," Castiel replied giving the man a cursory glance before flicking his eyes back to the computer screen where he had been studying the downward sliding trend of Mr. Turner's vital signs since lunch time.  He needed to make sure Hester was keeping a close eye on her patient in case he took a nose dive.

 

"We pay for you to take care of patients, Nurse Lafitte, not to play secretary."  Dr. Adler sniffed as he clicked his gold plated pen and opened the folder to sign something inside it.

 

"My midwife wants me to stay off my feet whenever possible,” Castiel explained, though he wasn’t exactly sure why he felt compelled to do so.  It wasn’t really any of Adler’s business.  “Missouri divvied up my patients to the rest of the unit nurses in exchange for me doing their paperwork.  Everybody is amenable to the new assignment."

 

"Well, I wasn't notified of the change."  The doctor finished signing his name with an unnecessary flourish.

 

"With all due respect, sir," he started, hoping Adler couldn't hear the way his teeth were grinding together.  "Missouri is in charge of this unit and it was her idea."

 

"Nurse Lafitte, _I_ am in charge of this hospital," he said snidely, clicking his pen again and sliding it in the breast pocket of his lab coat.  "If you are not physically able to perform the duties of the job you were hired for, then you can leave."

 

Before Castiel could reply, sweet tempered Becky piped up from behind his shoulder.  "Dr. Adler, Castiel is letting us do a better job by giving us more time to focus on patient care instead of chasing paperwork.  He's been answering patient calls and handling the the lab and pharmacy requests for us, too."

 

"Nurse Rosen," he said with a condescending smirk.  "If the nurses on this floor cannot manage all of the tasks assigned to them, then they have no place at Lawrence Memorial.  Go back to your work."

 

"As for you, Nurse Lafitte," he continued after Becky scurried off to the safety of a patient room.  "If your condition is so delicate that it prevents you from doing your job, then I'm afraid I have to insist that you be relieved of duty and sent home.  The hospital can't afford the liability should something happen to you while you are here.  Shall I ring your alpha to come fetch you?"

 

"I am perfectly capable of doing my job, Dr. Adler," Castiel argued, feeling a flush of heat rise up the back of his neck at the insinuation that his performance was lacking.

 

"I _insist_ ," Adler repeated trying to force some semblance of alpha command into his tone, but failed miserably.

 

"Only my supervisor has authority to send me home early and she is currently helping Meg with a patient situation," Cas said digging his heels in and refusing to submit.

 

"You either leave this hospital now or I will have you escorted out and fired," Adler threatened.

 

Castiel was beyond angry, but a sharp jab to his kidney quickly reminded him that the sad excuse for a human being standing on the other side of the counter wasn't worth getting worked up over.  He saved Mr. Turner's file and stood from the desk without a word.  He felt Adler's eyes on his back as he walked across the hall and into the locker room to get his bag.  When he returned, Castiel approached the doctor.  "I'll let you tell Missouri that you’ve sent me home."

 

He couldn’t help one side of his mouth from quirking up when he pictured the dressing down the beta would get from Lawrence Memorial's most senior omega nurse.  Missouri Mosley didn’t take shit from anybody, and most assuredly not from Adler.  She’d dress him down so far that he might as well be naked.

 

Castiel waddled as dignified as possible towards the elevator, grateful that two of his colleagues had poked their heads out of their patients' room just in time to witness his departure.  He wasn't sure how much of the exchange they had overheard, but he hoped the look on his face was enough to show that he wasn't leaving of his own free will.

 

Down in the lobby, he dug his cell phone out of his bag and thumbed through his contact list.  He'd bummed a ride into work with Meg that morning, so he had no way of getting anywhere without taking the bus or calling someone to come get him.  Even though it was a clear early April day, he was in no mood for the half-mile walk home from the bus stop at the edge of their neighborhood.  Benny was out on patrol on the other side of the county all day.  Dean was home in bed.  Ellen had put him on bedrest after he started contracting last week in the hope that he could get the pups to at least 36 weeks before going into labor.  Mary was subbing in Dean's class while he was out on leave.  That just left Gabriel.

 

"Hey, bromigo!  How's the bunlette doing?"

 

"She's fine," Castiel mumbled into the phone as he rubbed his belly.  The stoicism from a few minutes ago was quickly being replaced hormonal emotions and he fought to keep his voice level.  "Can you come pick me up from work?"

 

"Sure thing, kiddo."  Despite barely being a full year older, Gabe had insisted on calling him kiddo ever since they were little.  "What time do you need me?"

 

Castiel sighed.  "Now, if you can."

 

"Cassie, are you ok?  Do you want me to call Benny?"  The genuine concern in his brother's voice made his offer to call the alpha much more tolerable than when Alder had offered.

 

"No, I mean..."  He sighed again, eyes watering in frustration at his current situation.  "I'm fine, but I don't need you to call Benny.  Just...come get me.  I'll be at the bus stop out front so you don't have to find a parking spot in the deck."

 

"Ok.  I'll be there in a jiffy!"

 

Castiel slowly made his way out of the hospital and down the sidewalk to the covered bench facing Maine Street.  On one hand, he was relieved to be going home early.  His feet were swollen, he was hungry, and his back was starting to ache.  But on the other hand, he knew he’d probably have a hard time relaxing with the undercurrent of righteous anger still pulsing under his skin.  He was irritated, annoyed, outraged, and two seconds away from bawling his eyes out.

 

Thankfully, the bus stop was empty so he didn't have to endure any looks of pity from strangers who might catch a whiff of upset omega.  He slouched down on the bench, hugging his middle.  The pup somersaulted in his belly, almost as though she sensed his mood and wanted to make him smile.  He petted the side of his stomach, but didn't quite have it in him to smile at the moment.

 

Less than ten minutes after he sat down, Gabriel’s rust-orange 1970 Cadillac Eldorado pulled up at the bus stop curb with _Barbie Girl_ blaring from the speakers.  He hollered out the open passenger side window, “Next stop Oak Street!”

 

Thankfully, Gabriel was already super protective of his unborn niece and actually waited for Castiel to get in the car and buckle his seatbelt before merging back into traffic, unlike when they were younger and he delighted in driving off with Castiel half-in/half-out of the car.  He reached over to turn the radio down.

 

Castiel rolled his eyes when he saw his brother’s nostrils flare slightly, scenting him.  “Very subtle.”

 

“Dude, you smell like you’re ready to throw a punch,” he retorted defensively.  “What happened to get you in mama-bear aggressive mode?”

 

“Adler,” he huffed as he tried to get the lap belt situated more comfortably across his hips, under his belly.

 

“Ah.”  Gabriel nodded understandingly.  Castiel didn’t complain about work very often, but whenever he did it was usually due to something that man had done or said.  “What’d the bastard do?”

 

“ _Insisted_ that I go home since my _delicate condition_ wasn’t allowing me to properly perform my job.”

 

Gabriel exploded with a laugh that nearly sent the car swerving into the next lane.  “Oh my god!  Seriously?  You?  _Delicate_?”

 

Castiel smirked at his brother’s outburst, thankful that he wasn’t going all raged-up alpha over a slight against one of his pack.

 

“I’m guessing Missouri wasn’t around since the old goat was actually successful in getting you off hospital property.”

 

“She was busy and he wasn’t taking no for an answer.  If it wasn’t for the fact that I really did want to go home, I probably would have caused a much bigger scene about it.”

 

“Oh, to be a fly on the wall when she rips him a new one.”

 

“Yes, it will certainly be a sight to see.  It may, in fact, be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back.  He’s been getting on her nerves for well over a year now.  He doesn’t seem to understand that the _Chief of Medicine_ doesn’t have any say over the _nursing_ staff.”

 

Gabriel reached over, patting Castiel’s knee gently.  “Milkshake?”

 

They detoured to the nearest Baskin Robbins.  Castiel clutched a large mint chocolate chip milkshake in one hand and a Reese’s peanut butter cup sundae for Dean in the other once they got back to the car.  He snickered as his brother tried to one-handedly maneuver his massive land yacht through the streets of Lawrence while chasing the drips of melting pink bubble gum ice cream running down his hand.  Gabriel’s golden eyes flashed merrily at the sound of Castiel’s laughter.

 

Dean was sprawled out, half asleep on the couch in the den when they arrived.  He perked up when Castiel handed him the sundae and a bright pink plastic spoon.

 

“What are you doing home early?” he asked after Castiel curled up against his side, nursing his milkshake.

 

Before he could answer, Gabriel piped up.  “Hey, Dean-o, does spaghetti give you heartburn?”

 

“Not if I chase it with coconut water,” he replied.

 

“Good!  Then Imma makin’ah da spa-geet-tee and maet-bah-lahs,” he chirped in a really bad fake Italian accent as he headed off to the kitchen.

 

Dean turned back to Castiel once Gabriel disappeared, giving him an expectant look.  Castiel launched into a full retelling of what had happened between him and Adler.  By the time he was finished, Dean was livid.

 

“I’m gonna stab that sexist prick in the neck,” he growled as he jabbed at his ice cream with the spoon.

 

Castiel wrapped an arm around Dean’s shoulders, pulling him as close as their full bellies would allow.  Dean relaxed against him, unable to hold onto his anger while he was being nearly smothered by his mate.  “No, you’re gonna watch _House Hunters_ with me for the rest of the afternoon.”

 

“Who says I’m giving up control of the remote?” Dean teased.

 

“I had a bad day.”  Castiel gave him an exaggerated pout.

 

Dean snorted, but smiled and nuzzled against his jaw. 

 

Just over an hour later, Benny barged into the house, rousing the dozing omegas and Gabriel from their HGTV comas.  He snarled low and dangerous at the scent of another alpha in his house before he realized it was just Castiel’s brother.  He threw Gabriel an apologetic look as he knelt down by the side of the couch to run his fingers through Castiel’s hair.  “Missouri called to tell me what happened.  You ok, Cas?”

 

Castiel rubbed his thumb over the concerned furrow of Benny’s brow and smiled softly at his alpha.  In exchange for dealing with an unreasonable Adler, he was home a good two hours early, his brother had bought him a milkshake _and_ made his favorite food for dinner, and he’d gotten some much needed snuggle time with Dean.  He obviously got the better deal in the end.  “I’m fine.  I promise.”

 

“Good, otherwise Adler’d have been a dead man.” 

 

“He’s not worth it,” Castiel said gently, already having returned to his usual peaceful self.  He ran his hands along Benny’s neck, soothing away the alpha’s anger.

 

Benny dropped his forehead down to Castiel’s shoulder, taking in the omega’s effort to calm him.  “I’m pretty sure he pushed Missouri’s last button ‘cause she’s lodgin’ a formal complaint against him with hospital’s board.”

 

Castiel nodded, threading his fingers up through the short hairs at the back of Benny’s head.  “Then the matter is being taken care of and we can focus on something else.”

 

“Like dinner!” Gabriel exclaimed as he jumped up from the recliner.

 

Dean groggily sat up, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.  “Not moving all day is tiring.  Is it time for bed yet?”

 

Benny chuckled, leaning over to kiss Dean’s cheek. 

 

Castiel stood up from the couch and wandered into the kitchen where Gabriel was pulling plates out of the cabinet.  “Gabe, thanks for everything today.  You’re welcome to stay and eat with us, but we’re going to nest when we’re finished.”

 

Nesting was highly encouraged during pregnancy, and even more so during a difficult pregnancy.  Ellen told them to nest as often as possible so that the twins could get all of the benefits of neonatal bonding with their parents and sibling, saying that it could also help the pups stay put for a few more weeks.

 

Gabriel, who had never been a fan of a puppy pile unless it involved naked ladies, made a face and put the fourth plate back on the shelf.  “Gross.  I’ll put mine in Tupperware and head home.”

 

After he plated up dinner for everybody and filled up a container for himself, Gabriel hugged Castiel tightly.  “You just say the word and that worm is toast.  I got connections in the waste disposal business, if you catch my drift, and they’re always willing to lend a hand.”

 

Castiel smiled at his brother, patting his back gently.  “Thanks for the offer, but that’s probably not something you should say in front of a deputy sheriff.”

 

“I didn’t hear nuthin’, sugah.”  Benny winked as he speared a meatball with his fork.

 

With a laugh, Gabriel bid the trio goodbye and headed out with his supper in hand.

 

Cheered up by his brother and surrounded by loving warmth of his mates, the evening went by much better than Castiel had though it would.  By 8:30, he was sandwiched between Benny and Dean in the nest of pillows and blankets piled high on their massive bed.  Dean was fast asleep, drooling on his right shoulder, and Benny was tucked up close to his left side, watching TV.  Castiel sighed deeply before drifting off to the sounds of _Bob’s Burgers_.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wheee! My favorite part of any mpreg story!

Dean’s claimed spot on the bed was smack dab in the middle where he could be sandwiched between Castiel on his left and Benny on his right.  He usually slept with his head pillowed on Benny’s shoulder and Cas spooned up behind him with an arm thrown over Dean’s side.  It should have been claustrophobic, but Dean absolutely loved it, loved being nearly smothered by the heavy, sleep-warm bodies of the two most important people in his life.

 

For the past five and a half months, he’d had to give up the middle.  He’d switched places with Benny, trading the comfortably snuggly spot between his mates for the ease of rolling out of bed without having to wake somebody up whenever the twins reenacted the World Cup in the middle of the night using his bladder as their soccer ball.  He’d still cuddle up close to Benny, but he missed having Cas plastered against his back like a six-foot long space heater.

 

The three of them went to bed shortly after dinner one night in early May, too tired and too pregnant to even bother vegging out on the couch for the monthly Dr. Sexy marathon.  Dean tossed restlessly for an hour before poking Benny in the side and making him swap places so Dean could be surrounded by the calming touch and scent of his alpha and omega.  After carefully arranging pillows, blankets, limbs, and big bellies, everybody was finally situated.  Benny and Cas knocked off almost instantly, but the twins took another half an hour to settle down before Dean could drift off to sleep. 

 

He woke up a little over two hours later to an uncomfortable pressure low in his belly.  _Just great_.  He had to pee and was pinned in place by hairy Sleepy Beauty one on side and snoring Snow White on the other.  Cas’s arm was draped possessively over his side and Benny’s feet were locked around one of his puffy ankles.  Grunting, he shoved at Cas and kicked Benny.  They both rolled over, parting like the Red Sea for Moses; however, their change in position didn’t really help much.  Dean’s only route of escape was via the foot of the bed.

 

Slowly shimmying down the mattress left him out of breath by the time he put his feet on the floor and awkwardly rolled into an upright position.  Suddenly, the pressure in his pelvis released, but his relief was short lived when he realized he was sitting in a wet spot.

 

“Son of a bitch,” he cursed, hunching over his belly in defeat.

 

“You ok, sugah?” Benny rumbled sleepily. 

 

Glancing over his shoulder, Dean could just make out the silhouette of the alpha’s head lifted up from the pillow in the green glow of the alarm clock.  “Pissed the damn bed.  Shouldn’t have gotten myself trapped in the middle.”

 

“C’mon.”  The sheets rustled as Benny climbed out of the bed.  He flipped on the bedside lamp before standing.  “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

 

Dean slid his hand in the one Benny offered out to him, letting his alpha help him to his feet.  The instant he was vertical, pain ripped through his belly.  He hissed, doubling over.

 

“Cramp?”  Benny rubbed a big hand up and down Dean’s spine.

 

He shook his head, running his hand over his taut middle.  It had been a toss-up over the past two days whether he was going to be gripped by a contraction or a leg cramp whenever he stood up for a brief trip to the bathroom.  “Contraction.”

 

He’d been having contractions on and off for nearly a month, so having one now wasn’t overly concerning, except that it actually hurt this time.  Ellen had checked him yesterday to see if he had dilated after a period of particularly strong, almost regular contractions, but his cervix was still closed up tight.  The twins were currently at 37 weeks and two days.  If real labor kicked in now, Ellen wasn’t planning to stop it, but they were all still hoping the pups would stay put and keep growing as long as possible.  A few more days could mean the difference in a prolonged NICU stay and getting to go home soon after birth.

 

Dean blew out a long breath when the pain eased enough for him to stand up straight.  “I’m gonna go hose off.”

 

Benny pressed a kiss to his temple before reaching down to nudge Cas’s foot while Dean waddled slowly into the bathroom, his legs bowed even more than usual under all the extra weight he was carrying.

 

“Hey, sweetheart,” Benny urged gently.  “You gotta get up so I can change the sheets.”

 

Castiel groaned into his pillow before he rolled up to sit on his side of the bed.  “What happened?”

 

“He wet the bed,” Benny replied as he started untucking the sheets from one corner.

 

Castiel’s nostrils flared as he inhaled.  Frowning, he unplugged his phone from the charger on his nightstand.  “That’s not pee.  Go check on him.  I’m calling Ellen.”

 

“Why?” he asked, instantly on alert.

 

The dark-haired omega rolled his eyes fondly at his clueless alpha.  “Because his water broke.”

 

*****

 

Eighteen hours later, the three of them were ensconced in a birthing den at the hospital.  Dean and Benny were slow dancing their way through an especially hard contraction in the middle of the room.  Dean’s hands were hooked behind Benny’s neck as Benny’s hands kneaded his lower back.  Castiel was bouncing gently on the birthing ball (not because he was in labor too, but because it just happened to be the most comfortable seat in the room) with his cheek pressed against Dean’s hip.

 

A knock on the door announced Ellen’s return to the room.

 

“Hey guys.  How’s it been going?”  She smiled as she plucked a pair of gloves from the box on the wall.

 

“He’s transitioning,” Castiel declared.  Because he’d been keeping a close eye on Dean, the midwife had only come into the room every couple of hours, trusting the omega nurse to alert her if anything started going south.

 

“This sucks,” Dean growled into Benny’s shoulder. 

 

Benny gave Ellen a tired smile as he quietly ran his big hands up and down Dean’s sides.

 

“I know, kiddo, but you’re right on schedule.”  She patted his shoulder gently.  “C’mon over to the bed so I can get an idea of where you are now.”

 

Dean obliged, but grumbled the whole time Benny helped him back into the bed.  The beta midwife performed her check as quickly and efficiently as possible before pulling the sheet up over Dean’s legs when she was finished.

 

“Congratulations, you’re at eight centimeters,” she announced.

 

He whined, throwing his arm over his head to bury his face in his elbow.  “I want to be done.”

 

“It shouldn’t take much longer.”  Ellen pulled off her gloves, tossing them into the nearby bin.  “But, I’m gonna hook you up to some monitors, so I need you to stay in bed for now.”

 

The last thing he wanted was to be tethered to the bed, but he knew he had no say in the matter.  “Can I at least lay on my side?  My back is killing me.”

 

“Sure thing.  You need help?”

 

He nodded.  Ellen quickly attached a blood pressure cuff to his bicep, a fetal monitor around his belly, and a pulse oxygen meter to his finger.  She also got an IV started.  When she was done, Benny helped her get Dean situated on his left side.

 

“Ok.  I’ll leave you alone for a while, but I’ll be watching your monitor out at the desk.  If you need anything, just call.  Try to rest.  It won’t be long before the hard work starts.” 

 

Ellen left them to themselves.  Castiel rearranged the pillows on the bed to better support Dean’s back and knees in the position he’d chosen to lay in.  He spent a few minutes fussing over Dean, placing a cool cloth over the back of his neck, offering him ice chips, combing his fingers through Dean’s hair, before retreating to the loveseat by the window to curl up with Benny so Dean could rest undisturbed for a while.

 

Another two hours passed.  Contractions were marked by Dean’s knuckles going white around the bedrail and low groans of pain muffled into the pillow.  Castiel and Benny took turns sitting on the edge of the bed, massaging Dean’s back and hips in an attempt to ease the discomfort that lingered between labor pains.  At the apex of one particularly long contraction, Dean suddenly struggled to untangle himself from the sheet.

 

“Gonna be sick!” he warned, physically unable to follow his instinct to get to the toilet as fast as possible.

 

Castiel grabbed for the kidney shaped emesis basin on the stand by the bed, thrusting it under Dean’s face just as he threw up.  When Dean finally tossed his head back onto the pillow, Benny wiped his face off with a cold wet washcloth.

 

Ellen came back just in time to see Cas head for the bathroom to take care of the pink plastic basin. 

 

“Sounds like things are ramping up in here.”  She donned another pair of gloves and pulled back the sheet to check Dean’s progress.  He whined at the feel of her probing fingers and she patted his thigh comfortingly with her free hand.  “Dean, you’re ready.”

 

“Good,” he huffed, teeth chattering.  His eyes widened suddenly when he realized exactly what she meant, and he shook his head.  “Wait.  No.  I’m not!”

 

“Honey, those pups are ready whether or not you are,” she said, smiling. 

 

"No, no, no,” he chanted, still shaking his head as the monitor by the bed tracked the start of another contraction.

 

“C’mon, Dean, when this one peaks give me a push, down here against my fingers, ok?”

 

“No,” he replied even as Benny and Castiel took up positions on either side of the bed.  He reached out for both of them, clasping his hands around theirs, and gave a tentative push.

 

“Good, good,” Ellen said encouragingly.  “A little more.  Just like that.  Ok, breathe.”

 

Dean relaxed back against the pillows, blowing out a long breath.

 

“I’m going to call in the nurses to come break down the bed, ok?”  She waited for him to nod before she reached over to the bedrail to call out to the nurses’ station.  “We’re ready in room 12.”

 

This wasn’t exactly the birth he’d planned.  He’d wanted to be at home in a comfortable nest surrounded by his family pack, to be able to move around however he wanted, to be able to push in some other position than flat on his back.  But because of the early labor several weeks ago and carrying twins, Ellen wanted him at the hospital in case something went wrong. 

 

The room became a hub of activity as three nurses entered the room.  One wheeled a tray of supplies over to the bed and helped Ellen into a disposable gown while the other two started adjusting the bed for delivery.

 

“Ellen, I gotta…I gotta push,” Dean said urgently.

 

“If your body’s telling you to push, go right ahead,” she said even though the nurses hadn’t quite finished setting up the bed yet.

 

Dean bared down as the contraction crested.  When it was over, Ellen helped him get his feet in the stirrups and then pulled a stool close to sit between his legs.  Castiel wiped the sweat off his face with a cool cloth while Benny ran his fingers through his hair.

 

“You’re doin’ so good, cher,” the alpha praised against his ear.  

 

Dean was pushing again before being prompted. 

 

“Good push, Dean.  Good push,” Ellen said as she pressed a towel against his bulging perineum.  “Pup’s right there.”

 

“Oh fuck, that burns!” he yelped.

 

“Ease off a bit.  Let yourself stretch so you don’t tear.”  She looked over to the monitor by the head of the bed.  “Pup’s doing ok.  You don’t need to rush.”

 

Dean twisted awkwardly on the bed, pulling Castiel close to he could bury his face in his omega-mate’s heavy belly.  Cas smelled like home, and Dean inhaled big lungfuls of the scent to get him through the short lull before the next contraction.

 

“Ok, Dean, push again,” Ellen coached gently. 

 

He pushed, legs going rigid in the stirrups as he curled his chin into his chest.  The world narrowed down to the pain engulfing his whole body and the sound of Ellen’s voice.

 

“Come on, that’s good!  Keep going now.  The head’s almost out.” 

 

Dean yelled through the rest of the push until he felt the pup’s head finally pop free.  He took a deep breath intending to push again.

 

“Hold on, hold on,” she instructed.  “Just breathe through the next couple of contractions.  Gotta let him turn so his shoulders can come out easier.”

 

Dean panted, hard and heavy, wincing at the weird feeling of the birthing pup twisting inside him. 

 

“Alright, work with the next contraction and you should get the first pup out,” Ellen said as one of the nurses spread a clean towel over Dean’s abdomen.

 

 _Oh fuck_.  He was going to have to go through this all over again in a few minutes.  Dean grabbed for Benny and Cas as he sat up, pushing long and hard with the building contraction.  One second he was being stretched wide by the pup’s body passing through his into the outside world.  The next, there was a red, wrinkly, squalling pup wriggling against his swollen stomach.

 

“Oh my god,” he breathed in awe, hands hovering over the pup not quite sure what to do now. 

 

The room erupted in happy exclamations, drowning out the unhappy wail of the newly born pup.  Benny leaned down to kiss Dean as Castiel gave the pup a quick wipe down with a towel and brought him further up Dean’s chest.

 

Dean’s arms came up to cradle his pup close.  He smiled down at the crying newborn, tears running down his own cheeks.  “Hey, buddy.  You’re a lot bigger than I thought you’d be.  Maybe you’ve made it that much easier for your brother, huh?”

 

“How long until the other one comes?” Benny asked, turning to Ellen who was still working between Dean’s legs.

 

The midwife stood up to palpate Dean’s belly.  “Hmm, he’s dropped down low now that his brother’s out of the way.  Shouldn’t be too long.  If we can get this one to nurse, then it should help speed things along.”

 

Castiel untied the back of Dean’s hospital gown and unfastened the blood pressure cuff around his arm so he could free it from the sleeve.  Then he helped Dean get the boy situated at his nipple.

 

Dean laughed when tiny lips latched on and started sucking with gusto.  “Looks like somebody takes after his alpha-dad.”

 

Benny blushed bright red.

 

“Jesus, Ben,” Dean said rolling his eyes.  “I meant because he came out hungry as a wolf.”

 

“Oh,” Benny laughed and nuzzled the top of Dean’s head.

 

“Alpha, you wanna cut the cord?” Ellen asked holding out a pair of scissors to Benny.

 

“Yeah, ok,” he said nervously as he took the scissors and began to cut between the two clamps.  Dean smiled up at him the whole time, high on new-pup endorphins.

 

Ten minutes passed as the omegas and alpha fawned over their first pup, counting tiny fingers and toes, trying to guess who he looked the most like, cooing over every reflexive little movement and sleepy blink.  He nursed contently at Dean’s chest with his hand wrapped around Castiel’s index finger.

 

Finally, Ellen said, “Dean, I’m gonna go ahead and rupture Pup Two’s membrane since it hasn’t gone on its own to get round two started.”

 

One of the nurses came to the bedside.  “I’ll take him now, get him assessed and cleaned up for you.”

 

Benny bristled with a low warning growl and blocked the nurse’s attempt to get close to Dean, who had automatically tightened his arms around the pup when the unknown nurse approached.   The nurse backed off with hands raised placatingly.

 

“I’m guessin’ you don’t sit in on many omega births, huh?” the midwife asked as she picked up a long, thin plastic rod with a hook on the end.  Most omegas gave birth in dens at home, either all on their own or attended by only family members.  Betas made up the majority of hospital births, since they didn’t have the same instinct to hole up somewhere safe and familiar to have their pups. 

 

“I’ll take him,” Cas offered and got no resistance when he scooped the pup up from Dean’s arms.  The boy gave a cranky whimper as he was lifted up before his little nostrils flared, scenting the air and recognizing Castiel as family.

 

“Things’ll go fast once I break your water,” Ellen cautioned, diverting Dean’s attention away from Cas taking the pup over to the side of the room to be bathed and measured.

 

Dean reached out for Benny, grimacing as he felt another gush of fluid between his legs that was immediately followed by a strong contraction that pushed the second pup down into his birth canal.

 

“Shit,” Dean bit out in pain, squeezing Benny’s hand tightly.

 

“Hmm,” Ellen hummed with concern as she checked him.  “Dean, honey, I need to get you up on all fours facing the head of the bed.”

 

“Why?  What’s wrong?” he asked, eyes wide.

 

“This one’s flipped around and decided to come out ass first.”

 

The nurses hurried over to get the stirrups out of the way and helped Dean turn around on the bed.  He didn’t have time to process the fact that this pup was breech and possibly in trouble before he groaned through another contraction, gripping the edge of the mattress.  He felt himself opening up again, but didn’t have Ellen’s soothing touch to help ground him.  His breathing hitched as his chest tightened with panic.

 

Ellen reached up to place her hand on the small of his back.  “Hey, darlin’, I’m right here.  I’m just gonna let the pup drop on his own.  If I touch him while he’s still mostly inside you, he might react and take a big inhale of whatever amniotic fluid’s left up there with him.  We want him to wait until he’s out before he starts trying to breathe.”

 

“Go ahead and push just like you did before.  I’ll let you know when you need to stop,” the midwife said as she rubbed gentle circles into his lower back.

 

Dean pushed, feeling less resistance to his effort as the pup’s significantly smaller bottom and torso slid smoothly out of his body, hanging limply between his legs.

 

“Good job, Dean.  For right now, breathe and don’t push.  I’m gonna turn him so his arms can come out.”

 

He felt the baby being rotated, the motion freeing both arms and shoulders.  It was a really weird sensation, but he was glad Ellen was explaining what was going on since he couldn’t see, not that he could actually see what was going on when the first pup was delivered.  At least he had had a good idea of what was happening the first time.  Now, he was feeling totally lost.

 

“With the next contraction, I’m gonna reach up and flex his head so you can push him out.”  She paused, and he guessed she was watching the monitor as he felt another contraction start to pull at his tender middle. 

 

There was a lot going on between his legs – the feel of Ellen’s fingers moving inside him, the drip of fluid down his exposed thighs, and the weight of the pup hanging free from his body.  Before he could get caught up in how wrong everything felt, Ellen directed him to push again.  He bore down hard putting every bit of energy he had left into this last push, and then he was blessedly empty.

 

“Don’t move yet,” Ellen said gently when he started to turn around. 

 

Dean dropped his head down to the mattress, panting and trying to stay up on shaking arms and legs.  The room was strangely quiet except for the muted voices of the nurses and midwife huddled at the foot of the bed and the soft rustling as they passed things back and forth to each other.  Then finally, after a very long, tense minute passed, a soft gurgly hiccup was followed by a very pitiful mewl of discontent.

 

Two pairs of hands gently guided him back into a forward facing position on the bed.  As soon as he was settled on his sore bottom, Ellen placed the tiny pup on his now-deflated stomach.  With a sigh of relief, Dean settled the second twin belly down on his chest and wiped at his own face with his free hand.

 

“You’re gonna be trouble, aren’t you, little man?” Dean murmured with a smile.

 

The pup tipped his head back to look up in the direction of the sound of Dean’s voice and gave a grumbly little growl before mouthing at the omega’s nipple.  Dean’s eyelids drooped with exhaustion and happy feelings.  Parts of his body felt like they’d been ripped apart and haphazardly mashed back together, but warm, gooey contentment was oozing through his veins.  He sighed and pressed his nose against the pup’s damp scalp, breathing in the fresh, new pup-smell.

 

Castiel brought the first pup back over to the bedside.  He was swaddled in a clean receiving blanket and wearing a soft blue cap.  The omega passed the pup over to Benny, who cradled his firstborn tenderly in the bend of his elbow. 

 

The alpha leaned in close to the bedside, bending down to kiss each twin on the head.  “Welcome to the world Beau and Max.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FLUFF! PURE UNCUT FLUFF! (Be sure to brush and floss after reading this.)

"Hey, sweetheart, you ok?"  Benny asked quietly as he walked into the living room.  The dark room was lit only by the dim glow of the TV showing late night reruns of _I Love Lucy_.  Cas was stretched out on the couch with two-week-old Beau draped over his belly.  There was an empty bottle on the coffee table.

 

“I’m fine,” he replied with a smile as he rubbed his hand over the pup’s back.  Castiel and Beau had bonded during the half hour or so while Dean and Benny were focused on Max’s tense delivery, and it became very obvious soon after that Cas was the pup’s favorite person.  “I heard him wake up so I brought him down here before he could get too fussy.”

 

“I coulda gotten him,” the alpha said as he sat down on the floor between the couch and coffee table, reaching out to trace his finger along Beau’s pudgy cheek.  The pup’s tiny wet lips smacked together in his sleep.

 

“No, it’s ok.  I couldn’t sleep anyway.  Giving him a bottle and letting Dean sleep is the least I could do.”  Cas had hoped that having the twins around would cause his milk to let down early so he could help Dean nurse them, however that hadn’t been the case.  His chest tingled whenever one of them let out a hungry cry, but he hadn’t produced more than a few meager drops of milk.  So, Dean was stuck constantly pumping and nursing to keep up with the demand of two hungry pups.  It was exhausting work for the other omega, so Castiel took every chance he could to help.

 

Benny lifted his hand to run through Cas’s wild hair, grinning.  “That’s what I’m here for, cher.  I’m a pro with a bottle now.” 

 

The alpha was on paternity leave from work for the next two months and had taken on the role of alpha-dad with ease, always ready to jump up whenever anybody needed something.  Hands-on parenting could be hit or miss with alphas, especially if they were mated to omegas, who tended to be overprotective of their pups for the first few weeks after birth.  In the old days, some alphas saw their own young as rivals for their omegas’ attention and would kill their pups or steal them away and abandon them outside of their territories.  That rarely happened anymore, but the instinct could still flare up from time to time.  Thankfully, Benny was not one of those alphas.  He actually seemed to thrive on having his little boys cuddled close to him just as much as Cas and Dean did.

 

“Besides, you and baby girl here need to rest just as much as Dean and the boys.”  He carefully lifted sleep-limp Beau up from Castiel’s stomach and tucked him into the bend of his elbow.  The pup wiggled as he settled in his new position, but he didn’t wake up.

 

Castiel sighed, patting the curve of his belly gently.  “I was kinda hoping Beau might convince her it was time to come out and play.”

 

“Nah, she’s a smart cookie.  Would you want to leave somewhere warm and cozy and have to put up with all us out here?”  Benny rested his big paw on the omega’s abdomen, rubbing lightly. 

 

“She might want to stay put, but I’m ready to serve an eviction notice.”  He gave his belly button a gentle poke.  He was edging towards 40 weeks pregnant with no signs of going into labor any time soon – the pup hadn’t dropped, he hadn’t had any Braxton-Hicks contractions, and he hadn’t even started to put together his nest yet.  “Tired of being pregnant.”

 

Benny chuckled softly.  “She’ll come soon enough, pup.”

 

The baby monitor on the end table crackled to life with the first whimpers of Max waking up hungry.

 

“I better go get him,” Cas said as he rolled up to sit on the edge of the couch.

 

“I’ll bring up Beau and a bottle in a few minutes.”  Benny stood and offered a hand down to Cas, helping the omega to his feet. 

 

Castiel turned the TV off before heading upstairs to the nursery.  By the time he got to the second floor, a sleepy, disheveled Dean stood in the doorway of the master bedroom, scratching at his side through his t-shirt. 

 

“Little Man’s hungry?” he mumbled through a yawn.  Max had been born a full pound and a half lighter than his brother, thus earning him the nickname.

 

Cas smiled at him.  “Yeah, but go back to bed.  Benny’s already downstairs getting a bottle.”

 

“Bed’s lonely.”  Dean followed Castiel into the nursery, wrapping his arms around his omega-mate’s gravid middle and resting his forehead between his shoulder blades as Castiel leaned over the crib to pick up Max.

 

The pup nuzzled his face against Castiel’s chest and started whining when he couldn’t find anything to latch onto. 

 

“I can take him,” Dean offered.

 

“Benny’ll be up in a bit.  I’d hate to waste a warmed up bottle.  Besides, he hasn’t started squalling yet, so he can probably hold on a little longer if I distract him.”  Castiel gently rocked side to side, lulling the pup back into a doze.

 

“For all the trouble they gave me before they were born, they’ve turned out to be really good pups,” Dean rumbled quietly against Castiel’s back.

 

The twins were surprisingly easy to please.  Within just a few days home, they had settled into a very predictable schedule of sleeping for two hours at a time during the day, waking up to be fed and changed before going right back to sleep, and then sleeping for longer three-hour stretches at night.  While it was clear that both of them preferred nursing to the bottle, neither of them complained too much when Benny or Cas took a turn feeding them with a bottle so Dean could have a longer sleep.

 

“I just hope the opposite doesn’t prove to be true with this one,” Cas admitted.  In comparison to Dean, he had had a very easy pregnancy.  He hadn’t had a single instance of morning sickness, hadn’t had any emotional ups and downs, hadn’t had too many physical complaints.  Up until about two months ago, he hadn’t really felt pregnant.  It was only in the last few weeks that he’d had any discomfort at all.

 

“Nah, she’s just a little Zen master like her papa.”  Dean massaging Castiel’s rounded belly gently.

 

A few minutes later, Benny stopped in the doorway, nostrils flaring as he inhaled the scent of content omegas and sleepy pups.  He smiled as he crossed over to the crib, handing the bottle to Castiel and then going over to the changing table to put a fresh diaper on Beau.

 

“Ya’ll are makin’ me feel like I’m not needed,” Dean complained, hooking his chin on Castiel’s shoulder so he could watch his son greedily nurse from the bottle.

 

Cas turned his head to kiss Dean’s cheek.  “Take advantage of it while you can.

 

Dean huffed softly, but smiled. 

 

Benny stepped over to the crib with Beau, laying him down before taking Max and the bottle from Cas.  “Ya’ll head on back to bed.  I’ve got this one.”

 

They each kissed the alpha before heading across the hallway and climbing into the big bed together.  Dean spooned up close to Cas’s back, his hand rubbing soothing patterns over the other omega’s belly.  They were both fast asleep before Benny got the twins settled back in the crib together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pups' full names:
> 
> Beauregard Winchester Lafitte  
> Maximillian Campbell Lafitte
> 
> They are fraternal twins.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BE WARNED! There is a very heavily pregnant dude having sex with two other dudes at the end of this chapter. Enjoy! >:D
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to [DevilMadeMeDoIt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DevilMadeMeDoIt/pseuds/DevilMadeMeDoIt) who gave me the wonderful idea!!!!

Cas’s due date came and went with bated breath.

 

A day after his due date, he took a very determined hour-long walk around the neighborhood with Gabriel tagging along at his side like a worried mother hen.  The exercise earned him nothing more than uncomfortably swollen ankles and a desperate thirst.

 

Two days after his due date, he drank a gallon of red raspberry leaf tea, resulting in a dozen extra trips to the bathroom, but no contractions.

 

Three days after his due date, he took a big dose castor oil.  The cramps that ensued gave him hope that he was in labor, but after four hours in the bathroom the only things he had to show for enduring the vile spoonful of liquid were foul tasting burps and a sore butt.

 

Four days after his due date, Mary treated him to a massage at a nearby spa with a massage therapist who specialized in treatments for pregnant people.  It was lovely, but even after paying special attention to the pressure points associated with his uterus nothing happened beyond him turning into a boneless puddle.  Benny stayed pressed against him all night with his nose buried in Cas’s neck getting high off his relaxed scent.

 

Five days after his due date, his instinct to build his pup nest finally kicked in.  He tore apart the house looking for just the right pillows and blankets to add to the makeshift den in the guestroom closet.  He stole all of Benny’s undershirts from the laundry hamper, using them to line the nest with strong alpha scent.  He even went next door to the elder Winchesters’ house intending to scour the attic for the _Transformers_ sleeping bag Dean had gotten for Christmas when he was six years old.  Mary wouldn’t let him go up the rickety ladder and made John hunt down the sleeping bag.  After a lot of grumbling and a two-minute long sneeze attack, the older Alpha finally found it.  Cas went back home happy as a lark that he had the final item to make his nest complete.

 

Six days after his due date, he curled up in his nest all day with Dean, but nothing happened.  He even attempted to nurse the twins in the hopes that nipple stimulation would get his labor started.  That just led to more irritation that his milk still hadn’t come in.

 

Seven days after his due date, he had a minor meltdown, convinced that he was going to be pregnant forever.  Ellen came over to check him.  He still hadn’t dilated any, but the pup had finally turned and dropped down low in his belly.  The beta midwife reassured him that his pup was just taking her sweet time and would come out when she was ready.

 

Eight days after his due date, Gabriel came over to make his famous five-alarm chili and jalapeno cornbread, hoping the spicy food would help kick start labor.  Cas ate three bowlfuls and ended up with indigestion so bad he thought his stomach was going to crawl up his throat and walk out of his body in protest.

 

On the morning of the ninth day, he sat on a stool at the bar in the kitchen watching Benny hover over a sizzling skillet while he waited for a bottle to warm up.

 

“I need you to fuck me,” Cas declared, catching Benny so off-guard that the alpha dropped the spatula he was using to stir the mixture of eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage frying in the pan. 

 

“Come again?” Benny asked, stooping down to pick up the utensil after it clattered to the floor.  He tossed it in the sink and grabbed a clean one from the drawer.

 

The request was an odd one for Castiel.  He wasn’t usually up for penetrative sex outside of his heat.  It wasn’t that he only ever had sex during heat; he just preferred trading hand jobs and blow jobs with his alpha and omega-mate.  He liked the intimacy of being close, of making out, of focusing on orgasms for the sake of pleasure rather than for the sake of satisfying a biological imperative.  He found it hard to disassociate the act of knotting from being a heat-driven need.  Thankfully neither Dean nor Benny ever made him feel weird or bad about his preferences.  They just accepted him as he was and loved him all the more for his creativity in the bedroom.

 

“Sex can initiate labor.  Ejaculate has hormones in it that will ripen my cervix for dilation,” Cas said matter-of-factly before his voice took on a slightly panicked tone.  “I’m running out of ideas for how to get things going.  Ellen’s going to induce labor if I don’t go on my own by the weekend.  I don’t want to be induced.  Medically induced labors are way more painful than natural ones and usually end in C-sections.  I don’t want to go to the hospital.  I didn’t like it when Dean was in the hospital.  I want to stay here.”

 

Benny turned down the burner so the food wouldn’t burn before hurrying around the counter to gather up Cas in his arms.  He stroked thick fingers through dark locks as the omega buried his face in his neck, breath hitching as he tried to fight back tears of frustration.

 

“I will do whatever you need me to do,” he rumbled softly before leaning back to cup his hands around Castiel’s face.   He thumbed away the fat tear that spilled over Cas’s cheek and pecked his lips softly.  “Let’s get everybody fed, then we can nest up the bed and have a little skin-to-skin time when the twins go down for their mornin’ nap.  Sound good?”

 

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

 

Dean’s voice came over the baby monitor on the counter breaking the nervous tension from Castiel’s breakdown. ~ _Breaker breaker, I need that bottle stat.  Big Boy's awake and I've still got Little Man plugged in.  Over_.~

  
  
"10-4 Daddy-O, Papa Bear is on his way up.  Over," Benny called out as he left Cas's side to go back to making breakfast.  Cas grabbed the bottle from the warmer on the counter and headed up to the nursery.

  
  
~ _Muchas gracias, Big Alpha.  Over!_ ~

  
  
For half an hour, their attention was focused on feeding the twins and chowing down on the big bowl of Benny’s famous breakfast scramble that the three of them shared.  Once the boys were changed into fresh diapers and tucked back into their crib, Benny took the dishes back downstairs while Cas and Dean piled pillows and blankets on the bed.  

  
  
"Do you mind if I keep my clothes on?" Dean asked as he helped Cas out of his pajamas.  He had heard the conversation between his alpha and omega-mate over the monitor.  While he was more than willing to help Cas feel better in any way possible, he wasn’t willing to expose his soft, flabby, post-pregnancy belly to the rest the world.

 

Castiel shook his head.  “I’m just glad you want to stay with us.”

 

“Hey, just because I can’t be an active participant for another few weeks doesn’t mean I can’t lend moral support right now,” he said with a gentle smile before pulling Cas in close for a kiss. 

 

Just as Benny finished washing the breakfast dishes, he caught a whiff of sweet omega arousal.  The smell pulled him upstairs like a cartoon pie on a window sill reeling in a hungry wolf.  At the bedroom door, he was met with the sight of Dean carefully opening up Castiel with three slick fingers and fisting Cas’s cock with his other hand.  Castiel’s bottom lip was caught between his teeth as he rocked his hips against Dean’s hand, little sounds of pleasure vibrated in his chest.

 

Benny growled low, deep in his throat.  Castiel offered out his hand, beckoning him close.  The alpha stripped out of his clothes, leaving them in a heap at the foot of the bed before he climbed in behind the naked pregnant omega.  He laid reverent kisses along Cas’s bare shoulders and up the back of his neck as he wrapped both arms around him, one hand stroking the taut skin of his belly and the other gently palming his swollen chest.

 

Castiel whined at the overwhelming feel of two pairs of hands touching his most sensitive places.  He felt the blunt head of Benny’s cock nudge up between his ass cheeks as the alpha stretched out along his back.  With a quick, almost choreographed switch, Dean pulled his fingers out and Benny immediately slid his cock into Cas’s warm, slick hole.  Cas only registered the change when he realized that Dean’s hand was rubbing up and down his thigh while his other was still wrapped around his erection.

 

Castiel melted back against Benny’s chest as the alpha set a slow, easy pace of thrusting long and deep into the omega’s body.  Dean scooted down the bed, taking Castiel’s swollen member into his mouth and gently fondling his balls.  Cas was floating on a sea of good feelings when Benny’s growing knot started to pluck at his hole.  He felt the alpha change his angle, making his thrusts shallower so that his knot was held back, and wiggled his hips trying to force him back into his previous position.

 

“Please, Benny,” he begged quietly.  “Please knot me.”

 

“You sure, cher?” Benny inquired.  He had no qualms about being tied to Castiel for a half hour or so, but he wasn’t sure if the omega could stand to be confined to the bed for that long without being able to move very much.

 

Castiel nodded, rocking back encouragingly against Benny’s groin. The alpha complied, one big hand grabbing hold of Cas’s hip for leverage to gently ease his knot past the omega’s rim.  He grunted as they locked together and his orgasm poured over him like thick, warm honey, pumping come into the omega’s channel.  Castiel tensed up briefly before shuddering through his own climax and coming down Dean’s throat.

 

The sex-induced hormones running through Castiel’s body did an even better job of turning him into a pile of content goo than the trained massage therapist at the spa did.  Dean and Benny continued to pepper his smooth skin with kisses and caresses, lulling him into such a state of relaxation that he couldn’t even muster up the effort to be aggravated that having sex hadn’t immediately triggered labor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr: <http://nephilimsgrace.tumblr.com>


	9. Chapter 9

When Cas woke up a few hours later, alone but cocooned in pillows and blankets smelling of his mates, he couldn’t sense any marked change in his body.  It was disappointing that sex hadn’t seemed to have helped at all.  Sighing, he dragged himself to the bathroom to pee.  Ever since the pup had finally turned down a few days ago, she’d been putting more pressure than usual on his bladder.  He now had to pee twice for every glass he drank.

 

After peeing and brushing his teeth, Cas stood in the upstairs hallway, somewhat at a loss for what to do next.  He peeked into the nursery.  The crib was empty, so Dean and Benny had the twins downstairs, probably in an attempt to give him some peace and quiet for a little while.  He was still tired, worn down physically and emotionally from the extra days of lugging around a fully grown pup in his belly, but the thought of going back to the bed held no appeal. 

 

Suddenly, he wanted his nest, wanted to be tucked away in the sheltered darkness of the guest room’s walk-in closet.  He grabbed his tablet from the bedroom and then made himself comfortable in his birthing den.  Before the first episode of _How I Met Your Mother_ finished, he was already dozing off to sleep, the feeling of being safe and secure pulling him into a deep state of relaxation.

 

He drifted back to consciousness when he heard the show’s theme music starting up again.  There was a toasted ham and tomato sandwich with pretzels on a plate and a bottle of apple juice sitting on the floor within his reach.  Smiling, he dug into his lunch and sent a quick text down to Dean thanking him for the food.

 

Barely a minute later, he heard the soft footfalls of someone coming up the stairs.

 

Dean rounded the corner and carefully sat down on the floor with his legs crossed.  “Hey, angel.  You feeling ok?” he asked, reaching out to rub the top of Castiel’s bare foot.

 

Balancing the plate on top of his belly, Cas twisted the cap off the bottle of juice.  “Mmhmm,” he replied as he took a long drink.  “Do you think your mom would make us a pot of tomato rice soup for dinner?”

 

“She’d make you a full Thanksgiving dinner if you asked for it,” Dean quipped.

 

Castiel chuckled softly.

 

Dean kept him company while he finished eating, taking his empty plate and bottle when the cries of a hungry pup filtered up the stairs.

 

Not too long after Dean left, Castiel awkwardly got up from the nest and wandered into the bathroom for a shower.  He stripped out of his t-shirt and pajama pants before grabbing a fluffy towel from the linen closet.  Bending over to reach the faucet, he suddenly felt his abdomen tighten.  The sensation wasn’t exactly painful, but it was uncomfortable.  The contracted ended with a gush of fluid that splashed against the dry tiled floor of the shower.  His heart leapt.

 

 _Couldn’t have asked for a better place for my water to break_ , he thought with a smirk.

 

Rather than run straight down to his mates, he turned the faucet on and treated himself to a long, warm shower, scrubbing every inch of his skin until it glowed pink.  He took extra time with his hair, actually rinsing and repeating like the directions on the shampoo bottle instructed.   This could very well be the last self-indulgent shower he’d get to have for a very, very long time, and he was certainly going to take advantage of the opportunity.

 

Cas toweled off with the same meticulousness he took with his bathing, pausing only when his middle cramped up again and he had to lean against the sink counter to ride it out.  He rubbed the underside of his belly, huffing out a breath when the pain passed.  “You have no idea how ready I am to meet you, pup.”

 

After deciding on a bathrobe rather than proper clothes, he headed back to the closet-den where he intended to gather his thoughts for a few minutes before letting his mates know that his labor had started.  He just wanted a few minutes to himself, to come to terms that this was finally happening, but he ended up falling asleep again almost as soon as he settled into his nest.

 

A gentle shake to his shoulder brought him into the waking world again.  The room was a little darker than it had been, the sun having sunk behind the trees in the backyard.  Dean knelt next to the edge of the nest looking concerned.

 

“Your scent’s changed,” the other omega said.

 

“Water broke,” Cas mumbled sleepily.

 

“When?”

 

“Right as I got in the shower.”

 

Dean chuckled softly.  “Dude, that was over two hours ago.”

 

“Fell asleep,” he said burying his face back into his pillow when another contraction started.

 

Dean kneaded his omega-mate’s side.  “Sure wish I could have slept through my labor.”

 

Castiel drifted in and out between contractions.  The pain was manageable, the scent of his mates infused in his nest worked better than any pain medication.  Dean left after an hour or so to tend to a perpetually hungry pup, and Benny quickly took his place.  The alpha curled up behind Castiel, stroking his belly.

 

“Anybody you want us to call, cher?” Benny asked as he nuzzled the back of his omega’s neck.

 

“Probably should let Ellen know,” Cas replied, drawing random designs on the back of his alpha’s hand with his fingertips.  “But, nobody else just yet.  We’ve got hours to go and I don’t want people hovering around.”

 

The midwife arrived and checked Castiel’s progress.  He was laboring in true omega fashion – calm and quiet.  Most omegas slept through the first stage of labor as long as they were able to camp out in a den of their own design and be surrounded by their family pack.  The instinct to sleep helped them save their energy for delivery.  Ellen was very pleased with Castiel’s labor so far and very glad that it had finally started on its own.  Without complications, an omega birth was the easiest to manage.

 

Benny and Dean took turns laying in the nest with Castiel until he started to get hot and pushed them out.  But, he didn’t let either of them get far.  Dean brought the twins into the guest room, settling them on the bed surrounded by a barrier of pillows before joining Benny on the floor outside the nest where they both held onto Cas’s hand. 

 

He moved about as needed, changing positions every few minutes.  Most of them were variations of his favorite yoga poses.  If it weren’t for the occasional squint and tightness that appeared at the corner of his mouth, it’d be hard to guess he was having contractions.  He didn’t cry out or even moan. 

 

For the last hour, he’d been standing up, leaning back against the closet wall with his hands pressed into his knees. 

 

“Mmm,” Cas hummed abruptly after hours of being quiet.  His eyes were closed as his hands roamed restlessly over his hard belly.  “I…I think I have to push.”

 

“Can I come in?” Ellen asked from the doorway of the closet.  She’d been sticking close ever since he stood up.  Dean and Benny moved out of her way. 

 

Castiel nodded and the midwife knelt down to check him.  Smiling, she affirmed, “Yep, you’re ready.  How do you want to do this?”

 

“This is good,” he replied through gritted teeth as a strong contraction built.  Cas took a deep breath and gave into the urge to push.

 

Ellen watched until he relaxed, then she patted his thigh gently.  “You’re doing good, so I’ll get out of your way.  Do you want Benny or Dean in here with you?”

 

He debated for a moment before finally shaking his head.  At the moment, he didn’t want to be crowded or touched by anyone; he wanted to do this on his own.

 

“Ok, we’ll just watch from out here,” she said as she made sure clean towels were within his reach. 

 

Castiel let out a low moan when he pushed with the next contraction.  His pup might have been taking her sweet time planning her exit strategy over the last few weeks, but now she seemed eager to meet the rest of the world.   With one hand, he reached down between his legs, feeling the outward curve of her head as it slowly emerged from his body.  The stretch burned, easily the most painful thing he’d felt since his water broke hours ago.

 

“Ow, ow, ow,” he panted through another contraction, trying to slow her entrance.  The rest of the world faded away.  He could hear his mates and Ellen giving him encouragement, and though he couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying, their tone let him know everything was going ok.

 

The fingertips of his other hand dug into the meat of his thigh as he gave little pushes to ease the pup’s head out little bit by little bit.  He heard an exclamation at the same time that he felt her head finally slip free.  He breathed through another contraction as the pup turned, and then with one final push, she slid into his own waiting hands.

 

Quickly Cas knelt down in the middle of his nest, holding his breath as he gave the pup a vigorous rub down with the clean towel.  Instead of crying, she gave an indignant squawk at the rough treatment, little arms and legs kicking out in protest.  She was quiet, but alert, already pinking up as her lungs pumped oxygen through her body.

 

He gazed down at her, one hand settling lightly over her torso, feeling her chest rise and fall as she continued to breathe on her own.  She blinked up at him with wide blue eyes.

 

“Hello, pup,” he whispered softly, smiling down at her.  She answered his call with a tiny sigh.

 

Oblivious to his mates and midwife, he got the pup clean, delivered the afterbirth, and cut the umbilical cord himself before settling down in the nest with her cuddled against his bare chest.  Only then did he look up to see three happy faces watching him from the doorway of the den.  He grinned proudly and held his free hand out to Dean and Benny.  Once they were curled up on either side of him, he nodded down at their new pup.

 

“Meet Grace Annabelle,” he murmured gently.

 

Benny cupped his big hand over his daughter’s dark-haired scalp and leaned in to kiss his omega’s cheek.  “Good job, cher.”

 

Dean nosed against Cas’s neck, smiling.  “She’s beautiful, Cas.”

 

Castiel smiled.  “I’m so glad she’s finally here.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! More fluff!

They sequestered themselves in the house for a week after Grace was born.  The isolation from the rest of their family and friends was vital for thoroughly scent marking the pups since neither Dean and Grace nor Castiel and the twins shared a blood relation.  Not only was scent marking important for building a strong family bond between the omegas and pups, it was also a safety measure that let the rest of the world know that all three pups belonged to both omegas.  Scent marking had the same legal standing as formal adoption.  No one would ever be able to deny Cas or Dean access to any of their children if the birth parent was not also present.

 

Adding a third pup to the two-week-old schedule wasn’t nearly as difficult as Dean and Cas feared it might be.  They had worried that Grace would throw a wrench into their delicately balanced daily cycle of feeding, sleeping, and diaper changing, but within just a few hours she picked up on her brothers’ rhythm and fell into place like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.  The only issue they ran into was that the ratio of adults to pups was now one-to-one; so occasionally all three of them were occupied with a pup, leaving nobody waiting on standby to run an errand.

 

Mary appeared at the front door bright and early at 7am on the morning after the official seclusion period ended.  She had a casserole dish wrapped in a towel in one hand, a thermos in the other, and a basket hanging from her elbow.

 

Benny answered the door with dark-haired Grace dozing on his shoulder, her little mouth gaped open against the soft yellow burp cloth under her cheek.  He gave his mother-in-law a sleepy smile.   “Hey, Mama Mary.”

 

“Good morning, sweetheart,” she grinned, standing on tiptoe to press a quick kiss to his cheek.  Her eyes went doe-soft at the sight of her granddaughter.  “C’mon,” she said, gently hustling her alpha son-in-law away from the door towards the back of the house.  “I’ve been living on Facebook updates for the last few weeks and can’t wait to get my hands on those pups.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a little salute as he closed the door and followed her to the kitchen.  “John didn’t come with you?”

 

She chuckled.  “That man doesn’t get out of bed before 9am on the weekend for anything.”

 

“Hey mom,” Dean said with a big smile from living room couch where he was nursing one of the twins.

 

“Hey, baby,” she cooed softly as she hurried to unload her burden on the kitchen counter.  She quickly crossed the room to sit down next to her son, throwing an arm over his broad shoulders and giving him a squeeze.  She smiled down at the blond pup cradled close to his chest.  “Who’s this?”

 

“This is Max.  That’s Beau,” he replied with a nod to the almost identical pup snoozing in the baby lounger on the floor between the couch and coffee table.

 

Before Mary could lean over to reach for the sleeping pup, Benny stepped over to the couch and offered Grace down to her.  “I heard the shower turn off a few minutes ago.  I think I’ll head up and see if there’s any hot water left.”

 

Mary melted back into the couch cushions as soon as she had her granddaughter settled in her arms.  The little girl flailed a bit, waking up during the transfer from her alpha-dad down to the strange new person.  Her tiny nostrils flared, instinct searching out a familiar scent before confirming that she was still safe and sound.  Big blueberry eyes blinked owlishly at her grandmother.

 

“Hi there, sweetie,” Mary whispered to Grace as she stroked her hand over the downy soft almost-black locks covering her head.  “You definitely look like your papa.”

 

“Yep, she’s definitely Cas’s pup.  Already got that whole soul-staring thing down pat,” Dean said with a chuckle as he moved Max up to his shoulder, rubbing the pup’s back gently.

 

Cas walked into the kitchen, hair fluffy and wild from towel drying, wearing navy sweatpants and a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.  Button-ups made life much easier to deal with when there were three pups who insisted on nursing every two hours.

 

“Ooo.  Breakfast!” Cas exclaimed as he spied the covered casserole dish on the counter.  He dutifully beelined to the couch to give his mother-in-law a kiss.  “We were expecting you to be at our door when the sun came up.”

 

“Hmm,” she smiled, her free hand gently rubbing Grace’s tummy.  “I restrained myself.”

 

Cas bent over to press a kiss to Grace’s forehead.  She squinted up at him, waving her fists up and batting him on the chin.

 

“So, how’s everybody doing?” Mary asked as Cas headed back to the kitchen to grab plates and silverware for breakfast.

 

“Really good,” Dean answered, settling Max down onto his lap after the pup let out an impressive burp.  “Nursing’s easier with Cas finally onboard.  You should check out the chart on the fridge.”

 

Dean had struggled a little for the few weeks before Cas was able to add to the milk production.  He complained of feeling like a dairy cow.  Between the two of them, they were able to stay ahead of the demands of the three pups and had a good supply of milk stored in the freezer.  Within a day of recovering from Grace’s birth, Cas had drawn up a detailed nursing schedule so maintain fairness for all three pups and all three adults.  The schedule outlined who was paired up for each feeding and which nipple each pup got, whether it was Dean’s, Castiel’s, left nipple, right nipple, or bottle nipple.

 

“How’s Benny taking to the pups?”

 

“Absolutely smitten,” Cas replied as he scooped up a heaping helping of casserole onto one of the plates. 

 

“Yeah, he’s got that whole domestic alpha thing going on,” Dean added, leaning forward to grab the half empty glass of orange juice from the coffee table.  “He takes on one of the overnight feedings all by himself so we can sleep.  You’d think he’d be exhausted from all the running around he does for us, but he couldn’t be more content.”

 

“You boys are lucky,” Mary said emphatically.

 

“Don’t we know it,” Dean agreed.

 

Alphas were generally protective of their young and provided for whatever needs their families had, but they didn’t always have the paternal instinct to actually care for their pups in any sort of hands-on way.  John Winchester certainly hadn’t been beside himself with cuddly feelings when Dean and Sam were born.  Mary could count on one hand the number of diapers he’d changed when the boys were babies.  He really didn’t have much of anything to do with his sons beyond what was absolutely necessary until they were toddlers.  But, alphas weren’t expected to put in the same amount of effort and time towards childrearing that omegas and their beta counterparts were.

 

“It’s going to be hard for him to go back to work in a few weeks,” Cas said quietly as he traded a plate of sausage, egg, and hashbrown casserole and mug of hot chocolate for Max.  Once he got Max strapped into the lounger next to Beau for their morning nap, he headed back to the kitchen to fix his own plate.

 

Mary’s face went soft.  “Then we’ll make sure he loads up on quality pup-time in the meantime.  School’s out for summer next week, so when I’m done, you boys can use me as you need me.”

 

Dean leaned over, resting his cheek against his mom’s shoulder.  “Thanks, mom.”

 

She kissed the crown of his head.  “And, I’m completely at your disposal today.  What do you need me to do?”

 

Castiel sheepishly nudged an overloaded basket sitting beside one of the armchairs.  “Laundry?”

 

”Sure thing,” Mary laughed.  Then her nostrils flared and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the twins.  Beau was awake and blinking up at her.  “But first, I think somebody a fresh diaper.”

 

She put sleepy Grace down in the empty baby lounger before picking up Beau and standing from the couch with the stinky pup clutched lovingly against her shoulder.

 

“Be careful,” Dean warned around a mouthful of biscuit.  “He’ll pee as soon as you unfasten his diaper.”

 

“Well, I know where he gets that from,” she said with a wink and a grin towards her grown son as she headed towards the stairs.

 

Cas laughed from behind the rim of his mug.  “Is that why she calls you _Squirt_ every now and then?”

 

With red ears, Dean grumbled and turned his attention back to his breakfast.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! On Christmas break until January 5! Time for writing!! :)

Benny stared down at the three pups swaddled tightly in pastel colored blankets, still peacefully snoozing three hours after their 3am feeding.  Grace’s lower lip was poked out in a pout, her brow furrowed up in consternation over whatever the 4-week-old was dreaming about.  Beau was sleeping with his mouth hanging open, a miniature version of his omega-dad.  The corners of Max’s mouth twitched up in a sleepy smile as he arched his neck back before settling down again. 

 

The two-month-old twins were just starting to consciously sport smiles whenever they spied somebody familiar.  Their big eyes would light up with recognition, followed by their mouths bowing out wide and gummy.  Beau had the sweetest smile that could last for hours, while Max’s smile was a little more fleeting, but no less cute.  Grace was beginning to get the hang of making faces.  Her smiles were still pretty random, but she always smiled at Dean whenever he sang to her.

 

He was going to miss them.  Hell, he already missed them and he was standing right beside their crib.  They’d been his whole world for the past eight weeks.  He’d had 56 days full of poopy diapers, spit up, middle of the night feedings, morning snuggles, post-lunch cuddles, first-time parent worries, first-time parent joys, and never ending loads of laundry.  His pups and his omegas were his pack, his first and foremost concern above everything else.  Of course, that wasn’t going to change any time soon.  But, if he wanted to keep food in their bellies, clothes on their backs, and a roof over their heads, then he had to put on his uniform, leave the warm comfort of their den, and head back out to the outside world.

 

Sighing Benny reached into the crib to pick up Max, who would most likely be the first one awake anyway, and took his son over to the rocking chair.  He still had about half an hour before he needed to actually start getting ready for work, so he could afford a few minutes of snuggling with one of his pups.  A few minutes wouldn’t do much to stave off the upcoming 10 hours he’d be away from home, but it was better than nothing.  He’d have to come up with some sort of schedule for rotating through the pups since there was no way he would have enough time to adequately cuddle all three of them every morning before he had to get ready for work.

 

The alpha cupped his free hand over the soft, wispy locks of hair covering Max’s head.  Already the pup’s hair was turning slightly more ginger than his brother’s, darkening up to match his alpha-dad’s.  Benny was glad at least one of his pups was going to look a little bit like him.  All three of them favored their omega-dads when they were born.  Grace would most likely keep her blue eyes, so he could always claim she had his eyes, but she still looked too much like Cas for Benny to really have any claim over her genes.

 

Max inhaled deeply, whining softly as he tried to stretch out his limbs in the confines of the swaddling.  Benny loosened the blanket, letting the boy reach out his chubby little arms and legs.  The navy and red stripped footed sleeper he was wearing pulled tight across the length his torso, threatening to pop its snaps when he nearly overextended its reach.  He might have been the smallest of the pups at birth, but he’d caught up and surpassed both of his siblings pretty fast.

 

“You’re gonna outgrow your britches before I get home tonight, ain’tcha, little man?” Benny said softly, leaning down to kiss Max’s forehead.  Before he could sit up again, he felt tiny fingers twisting in his beard. 

                                                                                                                                                                   

Max grunted at him, a dimpled smile brightening his still sleepy face.

 

Benny grinned back at him.  “Not making it easy for me to leave, kid.”

 

The pup stuck out his pink tongue and blew out a breath, but didn’t quite manage to blow a raspberry.

 

Dean appeared in the doorway, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  He smiled at the sight of his alpha rocking one of their pups.  “You ready to go back to work?”

 

“Nope,” he replied, carefully untangling little fingers from his beard.

 

“Yeah, me neither.  At least I’ve got the rest of the summer before I have to go back.”  Dean walked over to the crib, checking to see if either of the other pups were on the verge of waking up.  Over the past few days, they’d been sleeping a little longer after their middle of the night feeding.   In another month or so, maybe they’d start sleeping through the night.

 

“You wanna go back?” Benny ventured, looking up from Max.

 

Dean sighed, turning around and leaning his hip against the corner of the crib with his arms crossed over his chest.  “Not really.”

 

Benny tamped down the pleased alpha rumble at the thought of his omega staying at home with their pups.  He’d never make Dean or Cas stay home if they wanted to go back to work, but at the same time, if either of them really did want to stay home, he’d do everything in his power to make it happen.

 

“We’re in a good place, if you wanna stay home when your official leave is up,” he offered.  “Heck, we’d probably be ok if you and Cas both wanted to stay home for a year or so since you’ve been puttin’ all your paycheck away for the past coupla years.”

 

“I didn’t think I’d want to give up my classroom just ‘cause I had pups,” Dean said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck.  He’d always walked a fine line of being a modern omega with his own career and ambitions while very much wanting a family to take care of.  Benny knew he was apprehensive of taking on the role of a traditional omega, even if it was clearly his choice to do so.

 

“Whatever you and Cas want, we’ll make it work.  Wouldn’t hafta twist my arm too much if ya’ll wanted to go back to work and wanted me to stay home.”  Benny gave him a toothy grin.

 

Dean laughed.  “Stay-at-home alpha.  That’d sure turn some heads at the omega-and-me play group.”

 

A coo from the crib alerted them that somebody else was awake.  Dean leaned over the rail to scoop Grace up into his arms.  “Hey there, princess, you ready for breakfast?”

 

The dark-haired pup gave him a fussy whimper as she nuzzled her face into his chest, but then wrinkled her nose when he didn’t quite smell right.

 

“Yeah, yeah.  I know I’m not Papa.  Hold your horses,” he groused amusedly as he left the nursery to take the whiney pup across the hall to Cas.  Grace was very particular about having her first meal of the day with her omega-dad.

 

Downstairs, the doorbell rang signaling Mary’s arrival.  Now that school was out for the summer, she would be spending Benny’s workdays helping Dean and Cas with the pups and the housework.  She had nearly burst from excitement when they asked if she’d mind coming over. 

 

Benny stood up from the rocking chair, intending to go let her in, but Dean met him in the hallway and took Max from him.

 

“You need to go get ready,” Dean said, settling the pup at his shoulder.  Max stuck his fist in his mouth, humming happily around it.

 

Benny pouted at the loss of the pup, but Dean gently turned him towards the bedroom and gave him a little shove.  “You can’t be late your first day back.  Now get.”

 

“Yessir,” he gave his omega a salute and hurried down the hall before Dean could land a kick to his backside.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas and Gabe's background is revealed.

Andy looked up from behind the pawn shop’s glass counter when sunlight streaked across the floor as a truck pulled up in front of the store’s tall front windows.  He nearly fell off the stool he was sitting on in his haste to get out of sight.

 

“Yo, man,” the beta stage whispered as he zipped around the corner into Gabe’s claustrophobically small office, knocking over a tall stack of papers on the floor by the door.  “The fuzz is outside.”

 

Gabe rolled his chair sideways to the doorway, poking his head out to get a look towards the front of the shop.  Sure enough there was a gray patrol truck proudly displaying the Douglas County Sherriff’s Office logo on the passenger door parked out at the curb.  It wasn’t unusual for the cops to show up at his place of business from time to time; after all, pawn shops were a thief’s first choice for getting rid of hot items.  Gabe had a pretty good nose for stolen goods and had helped finger a couple of criminals who were too stupid to realize that his need to stay in business far outweighed their desire to not get caught.

 

“Better go flush that dime bag in your pocket then,” he said jokingly as he pushed out of his chair.

 

Andy went pale as a ghost and rushed down the hallway towards the back of the building where the merchandise they couldn’t sell yet was stored and where the staff bathroom was located.

 

Gabe raised a brow before rolling his eyes.  He knew Andy was a pothead before he hired him and he wasn’t about to begrudge anybody for indulging since he spent a good bit of his own errant youth high has a kite, but he figured the kid wasn’t dumb enough to bring that shit into the shop.  The bell over the door jingled, pulling his attention away from his wayward employee.  He’d just have to deal with Andy later. 

 

Benny walked up the center aisle, manila envelope tucked under his left arm and brown paper sack of something that smelled heavenly clutched in his right hand.

 

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite alpha brother-in-law!” Gabe called out in greeting with a smile.  “How’s the fam?”

 

“Howdy, brotha.  They’re all right as rain,” the other alpha drawled with a toothy grin.  He lifted up the bag of food.  “Broughtcha lunch.  Mary made a big ol’ crockpot of chicken and dumplin’s this mornin’ and Dean made a lemon ice box pie.”

 

Gabe grabbed the bag, stuffing his nose inside for a big inhale, but then he eyed Benny skeptically.  “You buttering me up for something?”

 

“Maybe,” he replied cryptically as the bell over the door jingled again signaling a customer’s entrance.  “You got somewhere we can talk?  Won’t take too long.”

 

“Uh, sure.”  Gabe turned and hollered down the hall.  “Hey, Andy, get your ass up front!”

 

The dark-haired beta cringed as he slunk from around the corner.  Thankfully, he didn’t smell like weed, but he still watched Benny’s every move warily. 

 

Gabe huffed a sigh at the guy.  “Customer just walked in.  I’m gonna be back in the office for a little bit.”

 

Once Andy was settled at the counter again, Gabe led Benny back to his tiny office, kicking the papers that Andy had knocked over out of their way to clear a path for Benny to get to the upholstered chair crammed between the corner of the room and the tall, glass display case where some of the more pricey merchandise was being kept under extra heavy lock and key.

 

“I’m guessin’ Cas has never been back here before,” Benny pondered, looking around the small, overcrowded space as Gabe moved a bag from Office Depot off of the chair before motioning for him to sit down.  Every horizontal service was covered in handwritten receipts, computer print-outs, overstuffed binders, Styrofoam cups, Chinese take-out containers, and random knickknacks that should probably be out on the store shelves.

 

“Oh god, no.  There’s a system to this madness and he’d just ruin it by trying to organize it.”  Gabe spit out the word _organize_ like it was four-letter curse word that would result in his mouth being washed out with soap.  Plunking down in his creaky desk chair with his bag of food, he asked, “So what brings you by?”

 

Benny smoothed the tan envelope against his knee.  “I uh…I got pack papers drawn up at the council office today.”

 

Gabe rifled through his desk drawers looking for something to eat his lunch with and stamped his foot in victory when he found a red plastic spoon mixed in with his collection of pens and pencils.  “You gotta have seven people to make a pack.  Last I checked there were only six of you, unless you already got Dean or Cas knocked up again.”  He waggled his brows at his brother-in-law.  “If that’s the case, then _damn_ son.  You need to bag your knot or you’ll end up overpopulating the whole county!”

 

Benny chuckled.  “Naw, we barely got a handle on the three we have now.  Ain’t even entertainin’ the thought of having more yet.”

 

Gabe pulled the lid off the container of piping hot chicken and dumplings, digging his spoon into the creamy white gravy and scooping up a pillow-like piece of pastry. 

 

“We wanted to know if you’d be our seventh,” the alpha continued.

 

Gabe nearly choked on his bite of food.  Swallowing painfully around a cough, he grabbed for the giant day-old Slurpee cup sitting next to his ancient desktop computer and sucked at the watery, room temperature dregs of cherry syrup at the bottom of the cup.  His eyes watered at both the near-death experience of almost suffocating on Mary Winchester’s signature dish and the implication of what Benny was asking.

 

Nearly thirty years ago, two-year-old Gabe had been found sitting under the _Lawrence City Limits_ sign on Highway 40 west of town.  Nine-month-old Cas had been fast asleep next to him, wrapped up in a ratty Mickey Mouse blanket.  Someone had dumped them on the side of the road in the middle of the night in the hopes that they wouldn’t be caught in the act.  Thankfully the weather had stayed relatively warm and dry that night.  Bobby had found them about an hour into his morning patrol.

 

The only information toddler-Gabe could give was that their names were Gabriel and Castiel Novak and that their grandpa had dropped them off in a red truck.  They had no identification papers, no pack scent to trace, nothing to give a clue as to where they had come from or who they belonged to.

 

Because they had been abandoned and the whereabouts of their parents couldn’t be ascertained, Gabe and Cas couldn’t be formally adopted into a pack.  They had been taken in by a kind, older alpha-omega couple who weren’t able to have their own pups; the couple died in a car accident only a few months after Cas turned 18.  While the brothers hadn’t been without folks who considered them family, not being able to claim a pack had always left them feeling like outsiders.

 

Gabe swiped the back of his hand over his eyes.  “You serious?”

 

Benny nodded.  “We want you to be the pups’ godfather too.”

 

The shorter alpha snorted.  “Gonna make me an offer I can’t refuse?”

 

With Sam being across the country at Stanford and Benny being an only child, Gabe was easily winning the favorite uncle contest.  He’d been the second person to watch the pups while their parents and grandma were out of the house (and, it totally counted even though he was alone with them for all of 5 minutes while Benny was at work, Cas went to the grocery store, Mary had dentist appointment, and Dean ran next door to his parents’ house to steal some laundry detergent).  Plus, he spent most of his weekends over at their house helping out and giving Mary a break.  There were very few things that could draw him away from his hedonistic lifestyle, and his brother’s family was definitely at the top of the list.

 

“If you find yourself a mate and have pups of your own, they’ll be part of the pack, too,” Benny added to sweeten the deal.

 

Gabe dropped his spoon and hurried around the desk to wrap his short arms around Benny’s neck.  As he pounded his brother-in-law on the back, he murmured gratefully, “You have no idea what this means to me and Cas.”

 

Benny smiled and handed him the envelope.  “Just sign the last page and drop this off at the council office on your way home today to make it official.  We’re gonna make the announcement to everybody at the barbeque at Bobby’s house on Saturday.”

 

“Guess I shouldn’t come up with an excuse for not showing up,” he said, grinning big and wide at the envelope in his hands.

 

“Like you’d give up a chance to get your hands on my kids.”

 

Gabe reached out with one hand to pat Benny’s shoulder before touching his own chest.  “Thanks, man.  Thank you from the bottom of my miserable little heart.”

 

“Welcome to the pack, big brother,” Benny said, pulling Gabe in for another hug.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't exactly sure how to explain the legalities of "pack" in this story so here it is:
> 
> Legal packs are families with either blood-ties or formal adoptions and matings/marriages. Since Cas and Gabe couldn't be adopted, they couldn't be legally claimed. Now that Cas is mated to Dean and Benny, Gabe's blood tie to Cas and Grace allows him and his future mate/pups to join their pack. Packs are registered and recognized by the government, and are afforded legal benefits and protections (in the same vein that the omegas scent marking each other's pups allows either of them to make decisions on the pups behalf without the birth-omega present).


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This started out as just a short 1500-word story, but then I decided to keep going and give Dean, Benny, and Cas a bigger story. I'm glad I did. :)
> 
> Now I'll wrap up this little AU so I can move on to other things. Enjoy!

All was right with the world.  Well, at least all was right in Castiel’s little corner of the world.

 

Standing at the sink in Bobby’s kitchen, he looked out the window overlooking the back deck where all of the people he loved were gathered.  Smoke drifted up in wispy tendrils towards the sky from where Dean stood over the big black kettle grill, a tall glass of sweet iced tea in one hand and a long metal spatula in the other, flipping the two dozen burgers sizzling away on the grate.  Benny, Gabe, John, and Bobby sat at the table with partially drunk bottles of beer, bowls of chips, mounds of Hershey’s candy, and a game of _Texas Hold ‘Em_ spread out in front of them.   Jo and Sam’s girlfriend Jess were chasing Sam around the yard with a couple of garden hoses.  Sam and Jess were home for a short visit before Stanford’s fall semester began in a few weeks.  Ellen reclined in a cushioned lounge chair with Grace belly-down and fast asleep on her chest while she chatted with Mary who was giving Beau his lunch bottle.

 

As soon as everybody had arrived at the Singer homestead, before Dean had even put the burgers on the grill, Benny, Dean, and Castiel had stood in front of their family to make a few announcements.  First, Benny had shown off the embossed certificate proclaiming that the Lafitte-Novak-Winchester pack was legally recognized by the United States and the state of Kansas.  Then the three of them had bestowed Gabe with keys to their house and a big binder full of copies of the pups’ pertinent information in the event he ever had to act in his official capacity as godfather.  Even though the presentation wasn’t a surprise, Gabe had still gotten choked up, which was all it took to make everybody else tear up. 

 

Dean let everybody know that he was going to stay at home with the pups full-time until they started school, and then he’d follow them back to the classroom.  Castiel was going back to the hospital when his six months of pup leave were over, but he would start out on PRN status, going in only when the hospital needed him instead of on a regular schedule.  Working on an as-needed basis would give him a lot of flexibility during the pups’ first couple of years.  They were feeling pretty good with the decisions they’d made about going back to work and everybody was supportive of their choices.

 

“Guh!” came the little grunt that broke Castiel out of his thoughts.

 

He looked down at the chubby three-month-old propped on his hip.  Max grinned behind his pacifier, reaching one hand up to pat Castiel’s scruffy jaw.

 

The omega smiled at the pup, holding him up higher so he could see out the window.  Pointing, he said, “See all those people, Max?  They are the best people in the whole world and they love you and your brother and sister so much.  You are a very lucky pup.”

 

The little boy’s dark eyes followed the direction of Castiel’s finger.  Outside, Bobby slapped his hand of cards down on the tabletop and stood up.  Max squealed happily when the older alpha, who’d apparently just lost his last Hershey’s Kiss to Gabe, appeared at the window and started making faces at him.

 

Castiel chuckled and pressed a kiss against the downy soft copper-blond hair covering his son’s hair. 

 

Dean’s shout of “Come and get it!” filtered through the old screen door. 

 

The door’s spring groaned as Bobby opened it to poke his head into the kitchen.  “C’mon, son.  Gimme the pup and go fix yourself a plate.”

 

Castiel bounced his son on his hip as he stepped away from the sink.  “Maxie!” he sing-songed with a big dopey grin on his face.  “You wanna go to Pa?”

 

Max twisted in Castiel’s hold to reach towards the gray-haired alpha who had been deemed an honorary grandfather to him and his siblings before they were even born.  Trying to come up with enough monikers for the people in the pups’ lives had been tricky, but they’d finally settled on Mema for Mary, Grandpa for John, Pa for Bobby, and Nana for Ellen.  Castiel was Papa, Dean was Daddy, and Benny was Dad (much to Benny’s chagrin, Gabe had already started calling him _Alfie_ for alpha-dad, hoping it would stick later on).  Of course, the pups would probably change all of that when they started talking. 

 

Bobby danced off towards Mary and Ellen with Max tucked up in his arm like a chunky football while Castiel headed towards the grill to claim a burger patty and a kiss from Dean.  He stood shoulder to shoulder with Benny at the food table, squirting ketchup and too much mustard into his cheeseburger and swirling the condiments together with a potato chip before taking a seat at the table next to Gabe, who grinned at him over the massive pile of Hershey’s Kisses and Miniatures that he’d won off of the other alphas.

 

Castiel sat back in his seat taking another moment to himself to watch his family as they good-naturedly pushed and shoved their way through the buffet. 

 

There were going to be many more days like today, where the whole family gathered together to eat and enjoy each other’s company.  Before too long, the family would grow.  Sam and Jess would get married and bring their pups back to Lawrence.  Gabe would find his mate and start his own family that would be folded into the Lafitte-Novak-Winchester pack.  Jo would be Aunt Jo everybody’s pups, even though she wasn’t blood-related to any of them.  She would be on the fence about having her own brood until a saucy little brunette beta sauntered into the Roadhouse one night and swept her off her feet.  In just a few more years, a half dozen or more cousins would be wreaking havoc on Bobby’s backyard with water hoses.  Sam would still take part in the water fight, only with the youngest of the family perched high on his shoulders, clinging to his still too-long hair like the reins to a pony.

 

Maybe Dean would have another pup.  Maybe Castiel would.  Maybe Beau, Max, and Grace would be their only pups. 

 

As he caught eye of his alpha and omega heading towards the table with their plates laden with food, Castiel knew that they’d easily handle whatever life threw at them next.

 

After all, they were pack.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of my readers for sticking with me to the end!!!


End file.
